What Even is Doula Business Coaching?
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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 00:36
Hello and welcome back to Dula Tips and Tits. Today, I want to talk a little bit about what doula business coaching actually is. And I want to share how this was prompted. So one of the things that I lead here in the DC area is a night that's called a doula meet and greet.
Unknown speaker 00:58
That's essentially a night where a number of doulas, usually myself and one or two other people, are on a panel. We do a Google meet, you know, like a Zoom call, and we talk about doula services. So we, it's much more generic.
Unknown speaker 01:15
It's not like this is Kaylee and I'm trying to sell you my package. It's more like this is what birth doulas do. This is what postpartum doulas do. This is what to expect with doula care in general. It's that kind of thing.
Unknown speaker 01:31
And so every time we do it, we always have people ask questions that they came with. So we'll say like, who are you? When are you due? Share what you're kind of hoping to learn tonight. Like, what are some questions that you have?
Unknown speaker 01:46
One of the people who was there asked a very good question. She said, I keep hearing that doulas provide support. They provide support in pregnancy. They provide support. support and labor, they provide support and postpartum, but I can't get a really firm grasp on what that support actually is.
Unknown speaker 02:07
Like what does a doula actually do while they're with you? And I, it made me think like, you know, I mean, first of all, that's an excellent question. We answered the question of course, and recognize that it does look different depending on the birth, right?
Unknown speaker 02:23
Like if you lined up a dozen of my clients, they would all tell you slightly different things that I did in the process of labor because their labors were all different, right? So there's that nuance, but the general, the basic things that are a part of how we show up are the same.
Unknown speaker 02:44
And so when I was thinking about coaching, I was thinking, you know, it can be incredibly vague to be like business coach, right? A doula business coach, a strategy coach. Like what does that mean? And I think it matters to clarify that because it's not the same for everybody, right?
Unknown speaker 03:04
Like sometimes I will say to people who are talking about hiring a doula or looking at, you know, I'll often get childbirth education students asking me like, okay, I'm trying to hire a doula. What should I ask them?
Unknown speaker 03:16
What should I be looking for? How do I know if I found a good fit, right? And I think there's some specifics that we really need to, we really need to kind of make sure we're clarifying, right? And when someone's hiring us to be doulas for them, they need to be doing that too, right?
Unknown speaker 03:39
Like, okay, what does this package include? How long are you gonna be present with me at labor? When do you join me in the process of labor, right? Do you give me ideas of what to do or do you like show me how to do it, right?
Unknown speaker 03:53
And that's true also in business coaching because not everyone is going to show you how. Some people are going to just tell you what you should be doing and then let you figure that out on your own. I've experienced some business coaching like that.
Unknown speaker 04:07
That's kind of like, I think you should have more strategy around your social media presence. And then it's like, okay, so what do I do, right? And it's like, I mean, like that's like very abstract, right?
Unknown speaker 04:22
And then it's not super helpful if I just have another vague idea, right? Like imagine saying to someone, imagine saying to someone like, you should get in a different position. And that person's like, okay, what position should I get in?
Unknown speaker 04:41
Like for labor, right? And you're like, a different one. And I'm sure your client would just be like, for the love of God, tell me what position to do, right? And so when I think about business coaching, I think it can sound so incredibly abstract.
Unknown speaker 04:59
and I want to be just insanely clear about what it looks like with me. The reason I'm also clarifying this is that I recently gave away a scholarship spot in my doula coaching and I have both a way to work with me for three months and also a way to work with me for six months and a couple different group options and so I have different ways to kind of hang out and work with me in terms of doula coaching and so I want to be really clear about what it even is.
Unknown speaker 05:32
So when someone is doing one-to-one doula coaching, so it's just the two of us, right? We start, we always start with what is currently going on in the business, like what's everything that makes you money, every service that you offer, every way that you're showing up in the community, right?
Unknown speaker 05:51
Like every single thing that you're doing that makes money. Do you still like all of these things? Do you want to keep doing them all? Are any of them like converting really well? Meaning that like tons of people are buying that.
Unknown speaker 06:05
It's a big service that lots of people like that you love doing that is very popular with your people. Like what is working very well? And then what are some things that aren't working so well? Usually right away when I see just someone's list of services I can be like hmm some of these prices need to change.
Unknown speaker 06:25
Like some of these some of these services need to be refined a little bit you know. So right away I have ideas but I don't start from there. I start from like what do you enjoy about your business right now?
Unknown speaker 06:38
Like what do you actually like that's working in your business? What are you wanting to be different or or what do you not like even if you don't know what to change about it? What's not working at the moment?
Unknown speaker 06:49
So there is some initial kind of introspection right? Both in like dig into your books and tell me how much money each service is bringing in. In part because honestly as doulas I don't think we do that very much.
Unknown speaker 07:03
And then we're sort of like I don't know how much money that brings in and it's like okay well that's actually important to know. Because if you like that service and you're putting a lot of effort into it and you're having a lot of people sign up but then you realize the hard facts are that you're making like a fraction of your yearly income in that.
Unknown speaker 07:22
Either that service needs to go up in price it needs to somehow be duplicated so that it can be kind of sold at a bigger scale or you need to maybe think about not doing it. Even if you really love it if it's like a teeny little shred of your income but a lot of your time and effort and desire is there we need to refine that somehow right?
Unknown speaker 07:46
Like all of your time should not be going into something that's bringing in 10 percent of your income right? So part of it is just practically like hey what is happening in your business right now that's good what's happening in your business right now that could shift that could be improved that could be worked on right then we actually implement that stuff so there is a heavy dose of work on your side understandably right like i am not taking over your business for three months when we work together i'm saying listen if you want to make more money on this service that price needs to raise this is the price i think makes sense look at the prices in your area like this is what other people are charging for this why do you feel like you can't charge that right like we do some work on that of course but then at the end of that session i might say hey i want you to change that package price and that means you go to your website or however you do your marketing your contract etc and you actually change the price of the thing.
Unknown speaker 08:52
Now, obviously, I don't control whether you actually do that, right? Like the best, most successful scenario is I say, hey, you really need to increase this price. You say, OK, I'm on it. Like I will do that.
Unknown speaker 09:06
I will increase that price. And you immediately go and do it. And so then the next time we meet, you're coming back and saying, OK, I increased that price. I I finished coaching with someone recently.
Unknown speaker 09:18
And one of the things she did was, I mean, honestly, everyone I've coached raises their rates because that's just a chronic issue in our field, right? And so she raised her rates and came back and was like maybe two or three weeks later, someone purchased my new package for the first time ever.
Unknown speaker 09:39
And I was like, amazing, that's a huge deal because your rates have been too low. For a while, right? And so it's a big deal that now your rates are not too low anymore. Right. So so there's that piece of like analyzing what's working now and kind of seeing what needs to shift.
Unknown speaker 10:01
Then there's getting you ready for bigger things in your business. So that same doula that I was coaching that came back and was like, I finally had someone hire me at my new rate. She really is working on having an online postpartum class.
Unknown speaker 10:17
A big piece of her work is traditional Moroccan postpartum care. And so we talked about how to leverage her free. She has a freebie right now, how to leverage that freebie, how to automate that freebie, how to set it up so that when someone purchases that, they get offered something else.
Unknown speaker 10:38
Right. And then eventually, once she has a self-paced postpartum class, that can also be offered to them. Right. But there needs to be kind of this funnel or this journey. this client journey to get them from one to the other.
Unknown speaker 10:53
Now right now she has a decent amount of website traffic to that free guide and to the blog post that talks about the recipe that's in the free guide. So we are working with something that already has traction on her website, right?
Unknown speaker 11:14
In order for it to really start selling she'll have to do some advertising around it. She'll have to put some more effort into it, right? But what we did for now is optimize what's currently happening because people are downloading it.
Unknown speaker 11:29
People are going and reading that blog post and so what she can start to do is cultivate the like kind of like build the muscle memory of having that go to an email list. Having that email list get offers from her.
Unknown speaker 11:46
That part of the business has to grow if she wants to eventually have an online class, right? Now, that doesn't mean it's going to have to take years and years and years to an online class, but for right now, based on where she is and what she's doing, it makes sense for that to be the step, right?
Unknown speaker 12:07
Now, in that step, we literally were on Zoom walking through her stuff saying, okay, if you go to this setting, you can click that, that turns that on, and then this email should be sent. Then I am going to her website, putting my email in like I'm a customer, downloading her free guide, checking it to make sure it's working.
Unknown speaker 12:28
I'm telling her like, okay, I didn't get the email back, so we need to make sure the settings are correct. So we're actually doing the nitty gritty of that getting set up. I'm not just saying you need to figure out setting it up and then leaving her to herself.
Unknown speaker 12:41
I'm actually helping her do it. The reason I do that is that that is the piece that so many doulas don't know, right? Someone says email automation and you get a little like foggy, like your eyes glass over, right?
Unknown speaker 12:58
That's because you're like, I don't know the tech things. I don't know that language. I don't know what I need to do in that realm. And so part of what coaching is, is even just exposing you to how to do these things, what it looks like, and how it's possible to start to integrate them into your life, right?
Unknown speaker 13:20
I have a duo that I coached recently, and this is true for a couple of doulas actually. One thing that I really emphasize is online contracts because it's loads easier to have Zoom consultations with people and then email a contract.
Unknown speaker 13:36
Those people can then sign and pay and all of that, right? And you don't have to pay for a product to do that. Like it's actually free to have that service. And so this, Jula that I had in my last 90 day growth accelerator mastermind, she, we met before the mastermind started for our first coaching call, our like one on one coaching call.
Unknown speaker 14:00
And then I shared with her like, how do you go about doing that online contract, whatever. By the first meeting of the actual mastermind, she was ready. Like she was like, I have the contract, I set it up immediately.
Unknown speaker 14:13
My first person signed it and paid and it's magic. And I was like, girl, this is life changing. Like we, of course that's not her only win for our time together, right? But the fact that she literally implemented that immediately and then that shifted the amount of effort she needed to put into her business immediately.
Unknown speaker 14:36
That's the kind of stuff that we do together, right? Because I want your business to be easier today. I want your business to feel more spacious now. I don't want you to have to work for years and years and years to have something as simple as an online process for someone to hire you, right?
Unknown speaker 14:59
Like that, I mean, literally, the amount of work I have to do for someone to hire me is very minimal. I do a 45-minute consultation with someone on Zoom, and I literally email them a contract. Sometimes I have to follow up with that person, but very rarely, honestly, because I'm super clear about the process.
Unknown speaker 15:23
I have automated parts of it. I've made sure that it's really accessible for the client, very clear, right? So that when I do that 45-minute call, that's essentially all the effort I need to put in. I'm not doing a lot of active work to get them to book that call.
Unknown speaker 15:42
I'm not doing a lot of active follow-up work. I'm definitely not individually sending customized things to them. Like I'm sending just the same contract that I send to everybody that says the same prices that everybody gets, right?
Unknown speaker 15:55
This is a process that has been streamlined. But then that means for someone to hire me is incredibly easy for them and for me, which means more people do hire me because the more work someone has to do to buy something or to hire someone, the higher the chance that they're not gonna do it, right?
Unknown speaker 16:16
The more times they have to say no or to forget or to not follow up with you, the bigger the chance that it is not going to happen. And honestly, it's 2025. All of this stuff can be online. It can be automated.
Unknown speaker 16:33
There are safe and legitimate ways to do that and it's necessary to learn them. But it's hard to learn them. If you don't know them yet, it is tricky, right? So anyway, those are the kinds of things I work with you on.
Unknown speaker 16:48
I can also help people. I've done coaching around helping someone start a podcast strategizing, naming it, thinking about what to do in terms of, um, episodes, et cetera. I've done coaching around marketing strategy for marketing, um, where to market, how to market.
Unknown speaker 17:08
I've helped people get connected in marketing, for instance, in ways that has grown their business by thousands of dollars a month, like really significant growth, just by saying like, no, that is definitely the thing you should do.
Unknown speaker 17:22
Focus there and see what happens before you put other effort, other places. And then they've grown like crazy, right? So there's all sorts of different pieces of what we can work on together. It's not the same for everyone because not everyone has the same business.
Unknown speaker 17:38
Right. But what is the same? is that i show up a thousand percent for every doula that i work for work with right i am your absolute biggest cheerleader when i'm coaching you i'm showing up and helping you know what to do when to do it and cheering the hell out of you as you actually take those steps that matters a lot right there are pieces to it that are like logistics that you don't otherwise know there's strategy there's the outside perspective but also just the walking alongside you as you implement is a huge piece of it that that is kind of the selfish space of like i wish i had this right um and now i do have it and it's a game changer in business you know and so so it is something that i think is incredibly important because it is so personalized to you okay i hope that was helpful today um my challenge i will say to you is to consider booking a discovery call with me now a discovery call for me is um a quick call we can talk about your business we can talk about doula stuff we can talk about strategy but also we can talk about if it's a good fit for you to do coaching with me i do not ascribe to scarcity i do not ascribe to sleazy sales tactics and so these calls are not about convincing you coercing you push pressuring you and certainly i do not ask you to sign up for anything while we're talking i do not like that at all and so um this is a call where you can really get to know me i can get to know you you can get some of my perspective and business genius applied to your business and you can get a taste of what it looks like to work with me as your coach okay So the link to that is in the show notes and I will see you on those calls and in the next episode.
Unknown speaker 19:53
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 hara doula so we can celebrate alongside you.
Unknown speaker 20:06
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 20:19
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 20:31
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
What does a doula business coach even do?? If you’re asking yourself this question today we are breaking it down! Thanks to a question from a prospective client this past month.
Quote from the show:
“She said, I keep hearing that doulas provide support. They provide support in pregnancy. They provide support. support and labor, they provide support and postpartum, but I can't get a really firm grasp on what that support actually is. Like what does a doula actually do while they're with you? And I, it made me think like, you know, I mean, first of all, that's an excellent question. We answered the question of course, and recognize that it does look different depending on the birth, right? Like if you lined up a dozen of my clients, they would all tell you slightly different things that I did in the process of labor because their labors were all different, right? So there's that nuance, but the general, the basic things that are a part of how we show up are the same. And so when I was thinking about coaching, I was thinking, you know, it can be incredibly vague to be like a business coach, right? A doula business coach, a strategy coach. Like what does that mean? And I think it matters to clarify that because it's not the same for everybody, right?”
CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram
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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
