Why Your Doula Business Isn’t Growing (And What To Do Instead)
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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. I am excited today to talk to you about why your business is not growing. And I think sometimes I think about, I have this, I have this thought in my head, right?
Unknown speaker 00:53
Of like someone who gets excited about something that they know is temporary, but their excitement seems very ill placed to you, right? So let me give you an example of what I mean. I fell in 20, what year was it?
Unknown speaker 01:17
2024 and on my birthday and broke my left ankle and sprained my right ankle. I also hurt my knee, hurt my hip. I just, in general, zero stars was a terrible experience. It was the most painful experience I've had to date.
Unknown speaker 01:38
And I've had three C-sections and like 40 hours of labor. Like I just, it was terrible. And so in that time, I of course had to like go to the hospital, get x-rays, get a cast, get crutches, figure out Manny.
Unknown speaker 01:57
Like I had to use like a scooter for a while. I literally lived in our basement for 21 days so they couldn't move around. And so it was terrible. Like it was just a really rough time. I eventually was given a boot and given permission to walk on that boot.
Unknown speaker 02:13
The boot was like, I wanna say I was allowed to walk on it as of like early March. So about, that was the 21 days, like between, I'm pretty sure. Anyway, I don't know, but timeline wise, I had a boot that I was walking in from about like Marchish, early March or so, up until June.
Unknown speaker 02:41
In April, I went to my orthopedic doctor. He's just older. I wanna say he told me he was from Peru. He's like this short older man who's like so happy and positive, right? Just like. very optimistic about life and like always has a big smile.
Unknown speaker 03:04
And so he is lovely. I mean, everyone needs a doctor like that, right? But he literally, it was April, I went in. No, it was, gosh, it must've been early May. So it was early May, I was like ready to get the boot off.
Unknown speaker 03:21
I was so excited. I brought my left shoe with me to the appointment. Like I was just like, fuck this boot, right? This is great. It's amazing, it's wonderful. Took x-rays of everything. Went through the whole process, had the boot off.
Unknown speaker 03:35
When he came in my room, my like patient room, I was sitting there with one barefoot because I was just like, oh yeah, I'm done with that thing, right? And he goes, hey, it's so good to see you. I have good news.
Unknown speaker 03:50
And I was like, yes, the boot is gone forever. He's like, your ankle looks a lot better, but it's not healed. And I was just like, I'm sorry, what? And he was like, ankles just take a long time to heal.
Unknown speaker 04:05
And I was like, you said you had good news. Like the good news is that it has healed some? Like what? And I mean, I didn't say that, but in my brain, I was just like, what? And he was like, I think we're looking at four more weeks in the boot.
Unknown speaker 04:20
And I remember just being like, no. Like I was just like, no, no, no. I brought my shoe with me. Like I'm so done with this boot. And he just had the biggest smile. And like this, again, he is lovely.
Unknown speaker 04:38
Like if you are in Ducea and need an orthopedist, I will send you to him. But he came in with this excitement that to me, I was like, yes, okay, we are done with the boot. And then he was like, the good news is you are healing, but not finished, right?
Unknown speaker 04:58
And I was just. like, what? And I think about that sometimes, because he was like, you know, ankles take a long time. Like this is actually really normal. And I was like, I am so tired of this boot. And he was like, Oh, I know they're terrible, right?
Unknown speaker 05:12
Like, then he kind of commiserated with me. And I was like, my Velcro isn't working on it. And he was like, Oh, let's get you a new one. Like, let it has a warranty. We'll just trade it, you know, we'll trade it out while you're here, whatever.
Unknown speaker 05:22
So I mean, it wasn't that he lacked empathy altogether. It was that in the moment, I was like, my excitement was not in alignment with the excitement that he had. But he had the perspective that I was getting close to being healed, where I was like, I have been dealing with this all year, and I am so done.
Unknown speaker 05:48
And he was like, I know, I know, it's frustrating, I get that it's aggravating, like, I completely understand, you know, and he's like, you are getting close to being done. you're not done yet and if we don't let it heal correctly it's gonna set you back significantly, you know.
Unknown speaker 06:06
And I remember texting my husband because he was like I think I had sent him to drive around because I didn't want him to pay for parking. I don't remember there was some reason he was not with me and he he I said okay come pick me up you know at the front of the office because I have a freaking boot on still and I said I just want to warn you I'm not in a good mood I have still have my boot and he was like oh no I was like it's bad like everything's bad you know but when I think about that I think like okay the doctor came in with excitement because what he saw on that x-ray was really positive improvement right and he was like great you're on the right path like everything's looking good right and I think about at a birth when we have a client who's like their last exam was four centimeters and now they're six and they're just like fuck I want to be 10 and done you know and we're just like oh my gosh girl you're already six like this is crazy you're doing amazing you're going so fast you know like that excitement from us we're sort of like we know what it means that this speed is going how it is like if you quickly go from four to six the chance of going fast from six to ten is very high so that's amazing like you're making great progress right and so but the but the person in the moment is like I just want you to tell me the baby's literally falling out of me like I nothing is okay except I'm done you know and I think in business we we want that like we want someone to be like oh yeah you're doing we know when something isn't going well you know like I talked to a doula and they rarely are like I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.
Unknown speaker 08:00
They're like, Kaylee, I have never had an email system or I like never advertise myself. And I'm like, okay, how do we deal with that? Like, how do we start doing that? Like you, you know, you need to advertise.
Unknown speaker 08:13
You're scared to advertise. You're not sure how you want to advertise. You're not sure what to put your money and time into, but you do know that it's missing right now. You do know that there's something about it that you need to be doing differently, right?
Unknown speaker 08:28
Very few people are under the illusion that their business is going beautifully when it's not. And I think sometimes we, we almost, I don't know, like as doulas were sort of like, oh, it'll be fine. Like we'll just, we'll just keep trying.
Unknown speaker 08:45
And I'm like, no, no, no, no. If we know a baby is like asynclic and stuck in the hip a little bit, like we do stuff to unstick them, you know, we're not just like, I'm sure they'll make it through. No, we're like, hey, let's do a sideline release and do some jiggles, get you up on your knees, try to scoot that baby back out of the pelvis and get them back in again at a better angle, right?
Unknown speaker 09:10
Like we do stuff about it. So if you're like, Kaylee, my website views are down, my inquiries are down. Then we start picking up the things that we need to do to advertise your services, to advertise your website, to make sure you're getting people through that want to be your clients, right?
Unknown speaker 09:31
Like we work on your strategy around even just, excuse me, even just answering an inquiry, right? Like you have a lot of people reaching out, but then they ghost you. Okay, well then what does it look like to make sure that like lead generation and client acquisition, these are big business terms, right?
Unknown speaker 09:52
That the like client journey is smoother and better for them. But if someone comes to me and says like, Kaylee, I need a good client journey. And I'm like, okay, how many inquiries do you have coming in?
Unknown speaker 10:05
And they're like, none. I'm like, you don't need a journey because you don't have clients to put on that journey, right? You need clients. And yes, we should, we should work on a journey as those clients start to come.
Unknown speaker 10:18
But first, your effort needs to be in marketing and getting clients and getting in front of people because people don't even know you exist. And no amount of client journey is gonna all of a sudden magically put you in front of people.
Unknown speaker 10:33
And I think as doulas, because we really don't like the like, you have 48 hours before this sale ends kind of energy, we don't sell ourselves well. But the reality is, it is sales, like we're doing sales when we have someone hire us.
Unknown speaker 10:52
So we also need some skills around selling. That doesn't mean we have to be like, like, this is your last chance, Thursday at two is when the client contract expires. Like we don't have to be gross about it, but you do have to do it, right?
Unknown speaker 11:10
And your doula business not growing is because there's a missing piece, you know? Like there's a piece that's vital to its growth that's not there. What is that piece? I don't know because I need to see your business.
Unknown speaker 11:26
I need to talk to you. I need to know more about what's happening to be able to identify that piece. The same way we do with clients where we're like, your baby's not latching well. Okay, what does your nipple look like?
Unknown speaker 11:41
What does it feel like when they latch? How does their mouth look? Like what kind of sucking do they do, right? So we can kind of start to identify what could the problem be or problems in some scenario, right?
Unknown speaker 11:54
You're stuck at six centimeters. All right, is the baby getting deeper? Do we think this baby is crooked? Do we think this baby is big? Do we think this pelvic floor is rock hard? What is the thing that we need to kind of troubleshoot to get this moving?
Unknown speaker 12:13
Business is that same way. If your business right now is not the business of your dreams, there are things to grow and tweak and change and add that you are missing. That's true for all of us. That's true for me too, right?
Unknown speaker 12:30
I am not just like magically living the dream with everything in my business working smoothly. I also am working with a business coach who's giving me insights, helping me with language, helping me with copywriting, helping me with strategy.
Unknown speaker 12:45
I'm saying to her, do I focus on this or this? And she's saying, I think you should focus on this thing because of this. And I want you to include a little bit more of your own story in that, right? Like that is something that we all need and you also need it, right?
Unknown speaker 13:02
So what are some things that you could do today? I want you to, first of all, reach out to me and let me know what your biggest struggle is. Like what is one thing that you are struggling with right now?
Unknown speaker 13:14
And from there, how can we make shifts to make your business move forward, right? Because those small steps do massive change. Even if they feel small right now, you connecting with a few providers, putting some business cards, excuse me, putting some business cards out at a couple of places.
Unknown speaker 13:42
Like all of those things are shifting. Not only are they shifting you and your mindset and your energy around your business, but they're also shifting the future success of your business and it is vital.
Unknown speaker 13:57
to do that okay all right I will 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 her ah doula 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 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 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
Feel like you’re working your ass off and still not seeing growth? You’re not alone—and it’s not your fault. In this episode, I break down the most common reasons doula businesses stall out, and what to do instead to actually move forward with clarity and momentum.
Quote from the show:
“At a birth when we have a client whose last exam was four centimeters and now they're six and they're just like ‘fuck I want to be 10 and done’ and we're just like ‘oh my gosh girl you're already six like this is crazy you're doing amazing you're going so fast!’ You know like that excitement from us we're sort of like we know what it means that this speed is going how it is like if you quickly go from four to six the chance of going fast from six to ten is very high so that's amazing like you're making great progress right and so but the but the person in the moment is like I just want you to tell me the baby's literally falling out of me like I nothing is okay except I'm done you know and I think in business we we want that like we want someone to be like oh yeah you're doing we know when something isn't going well you know like I talked to a doula and they rarely are like I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.”
CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram
https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach
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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
