Growing Your Doula Business Strategically With Jodi Congdon
-
Transcript
Welcome to Doula 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 Kaely Harrod. I've been a doula informally for 14 years and full time for seven.
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.
Hello and welcome back to Doula Tips and Tits. I am here with another guest today. This is Jodi Congdon. She is in the Boston area. She is a doula, but she is primarily working as a doula trainer and a doula business coach and some of those like supplemental roles at this point and not like in the nitty gritty with families at the moment.
Jodi, I would love for you to share with the doulas listening, how you got started as a doula, and then we're going to discuss today kind of your journey to where you are now. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.
I think my kind of entrance into all of this seems like it's a lot of people's entrance. I had my first daughter, she's 17, and my mother died when I was younger. I didn't have a really sturdy support system.
I feel like I was just too young at that point to like know what I needed and ask for stuff. I had her looking back now, it was like the classic 42-week induction, which I didn't know what that was then.
It was fine. It was like a lot of trial and error, but I realized very quickly that there's little to no support when you leave the hospital and if you need something, it's all clinical. My wheels started turning.
I feel like I was born like a tiny entrepreneur. I've always had a business brain, but I got laid off. from my corporate event planning job, like simultaneously. I think my daughter went to daycare for like six months and I cried every day.
Like it was awful. The whole thing was awful. And then I miraculously, even though I thought I was like devastated in the moment, got laid off and was like, okay, I'm taking, you know, sometime unemployment kicked in.
I moved back in with my dad, which was like horrible. I had like a new baby, but it was actually amazing. And I started building a business and I figured out what a doula was. And I flew down to, you know, take a training and dove in and started helping families and loved it.
But the cap on the salary piece got old quickly. And I didn't, I sort of just started doing other trainings. I became a birth doula after that and a childbirth educator and a lactation educator and all the things.
And again, you know, it was sort of just the same thing. All of these things were in person. So I really started doing a little more virtual and then years later became a trainer, which was again, something that I could do in person, but it was like, as many people as I could market to, and I kind of fine tuned my marketing.
And as I trained more postpartum doulas, I realized that there were so many incredible doulas, but they had no sense of the business piece. So I feel like my radar is always on to like, okay, what else can I help you with?
What do you need? You don't need me, you don't need to text me from a client's house, because you don't have any questions about that stuff, but you have questions about closing the deal or client correspondence or like that kind of stuff.
So I slightly pivoted to a little bit of mentorship from there, and then it just exploded into like, everyone needs something in the business side of being a doula. And I created some digital courses and started doing more strategy building with doulas.
And right now I work with mainly six to multi six figure doulas who already have established businesses, but are really looking to scale. And what I love about it is I started as a doula working 25 hours a week, because I was responsible for kid drop off and pick up to now working, at some point I was working 60 or 70 hours a week doing doula care, births and postpartum.
And now I'm kind of back to like the 15, 20 hours, but on a much grander scale and helping like so many more families and doulas. And it's just, it's really taken off and it's just showed me that there really can be so much in owning your own business and birth in itself.
I did a lot of weddings and things like that as an event planner and birth is pretty similar. I mean, there's a lot of money to be spent. in like the prenatal and postpartum timeframe, not only for like the parents, but also just on the professional level, like as a business owner and as a doula, I want to be able to capitalize on all the things that my clients need.
And I don't say capitalize in like a negative way. I just want to be able to provide the most that I can for everyone. And that can look like so many different things in a business. And you can really make it work for your lifestyle.
I mean, I have three kids, a husband, two cats, a dog. I run my own business. My husband runs his own business. My daughter is a senior and she's going to go. So there's so many other things in my life and I really make my business work around that, but it doesn't affect it negatively.
It almost affects it in a way that, I am able to give it more because I've been creative with like. Um, you know, the, the time put in piece of it. I love that because I think one of the pieces of, of instability in a doula business, right, is the fact that your body is constantly being demanded of.
And so earlier this year, I fell and broke my ankle and I talked about it a lot with the doulas I was coaching. Thankfully it's mostly healed, but, but in the moment it was like, I have an induction at the end of the week that I'm not going to.
You know, and so right away there's expenses for the business and for my, like replacing my body in the space of the birth and the postpartum hours and all of that, um, but also like, I think the, just the wear and tear on your body and your brain of being on call and knowing that at any moment things could get interrupted, you know?
And I think when we think about, I mean, I had a very similar moment of like, there is an absolute cap to this in terms of revenue and hours, right? Like I only have so much time and I can't just charge people more and more and more and more forever families.
I mean, you can't, lots of doulas do undercharge, you know, but also like, there has to be pieces of your business that are bringing in money otherwise. And because lots of people don't start doula work as business thinking people, they also aren't thinking like, how do I have three different revenue streams, you know?
Right. And that's a perfect example. Like, you know, you fell and broke your ankle. We talk a lot about like the physical and mental and emotional burnout piece. So like yours happened to be an accident, but like, there are so many doulas who really work themselves into a place where now they physically have to take a step back, you know, like you did and like, if your business comes to a screeching halt and you don't have the padding of passive income,
that's it for you. Like there, there is nothing coming in. And it's, it is an expense. So now you have, you know, no income. more expenses you have to plan for backup. I mean, it just, it can end up being, you know, kind of a mess and we don't ever account for that.
Like, one of the things that I think, you know, every business should start off doing is having a three month sort of like emergency bucket. What does it cost? Like what does it cost for your business to run and pay yourself for three months?
Like that would be an appropriate time, I think, for an ankle to heal, right? But like in that three months, we'd have to do nothing. You know, and a lot of doulas are just paycheck to paycheck. Like where you're working really hard, where is it all going?
Like there needs to be accountability and that's not common sense. Like you don't learn that in your doula training. And as hard as I try in my doula trainings to talk about the business piece, it's never enough time.
Like we could be there for days and days and days. And it's just, it's not enough. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, and some part of it is also like, I mean, Lindsay and I, we chatted before we started about a mutual connection that we have with Lindsay, who's a lovely duo here in the DC area.
We were chatting the other day about how like contracts evolve because of shitty clients. You're like, Oh, apparently you get burned. You add stuff to your contract when you get burned. And it's so funny because then you'll look back and be like, Ooh, September.
I remember when that happened or like this person. Yeah. But that's how it becomes really thorough is you don't, you don't think of those things, you know, and at this point, you know, the lawyer draws it up, thinks of all the things.
But when my lawyer goes over stuff and oh, have you thought of this? Nope, never, like never. It hasn't happened to me. So I thought of it. But good thing you've thought of it. But yes, and that's how you build, you know, your boundaries is unfortunately getting burned a couple of times.
Yeah, totally. Well, and I think in in what I see oftentimes in doulas is also like being a personality that like is a giver and like, you know, the service based piece of it also makes you incredibly trusting.
And you assume that all the lovely families hiring you are not going to do crazy things to you and knocking it, you know, and so you're like, Oh, liability. And I'm like, Oh, no, oh, no, no, please, please have a if you're an asshole, I can hire I can fire you claws because you need that because there are assholes, you know, Yes, yes.
And they're the nicest. They're on their best behavior during, you know, your, your consultation, but you don't really know them like the other part of that is postpartum anxiety and the overwhelm of postpartum even when you have a doula is such a real thing that it sometimes turns people into the not, different people than they were when they didn't have a baby and they had their feet up and life was less stressful.
So I think we don't think about that either, that they're not the same relaxed people they were when you chatted the first time. Yeah, 100%. And especially misplaced blame and trauma and things like that, all of those different aspects are part of this incredibly vulnerable time frame for our clients as well.
So I would love to hear from you, who is kind of your ideal doula client at this point? And what I mean by doula client is doula. Which doula business is? Because I have a lot of new doulas that listen to this podcast, but I have a lot of doulas listening to this podcast that are in the space of being like, OK, I've been doing this full time for many years.
I can't keep going at this rate or I can't keep going to this many births or I can't keep going, you know, at the cap of what I feel like is the income cap I'm at or whatever. And so I'd love for you to speak to like, who are those people and how do they identify themselves?
So the ideal client of mine is someone who has an established business who, you know, has way more inquiries than they're able to handle. So they're in a space where they're already making, you know, six figures.
They understand they have a really secure place in their community. Their brand is established, they have an excellent reputation. But just like you said, they have come to a place where they cannot add any more hours to the day, like they only have two hands still.
And they don't want to be saying no, they want to capture more of the business, you know, the inquiries that they're getting. So they either need to, you know, move into an agency model, whether it's contractors or employees, or have some sort of robust referral, you know, model, you know, and they really do want to continue growing, whether it's just with their local community, or whether they want to expand and do some virtual or some,
you know, self paced digital education. And that really opens them up to, you know, the entire country and also the entire world. So they want to keep doing what they're doing, and maybe scale back a bit on the personal care, but continue to care for the community and grow that piece.
You know, I love people who aren't quite overwhelmed yet, but they really foresee that being in the next, you know, part of their business. So they're in a good place to move over to, you know, an agency model without having to be like, okay, I still work 50 hours a week, I still work 60 hours a week, like I have just said no to, you know, four people today, and I'll probably say no to two people tomorrow.
And those people are fine too, because they obviously need to make a move. But it's much more difficult to find the time to do a little reworking, you know, of the business. And it's even more difficult to find time to schedule a call with them to do that, strategizing and consulting with them, because they're either on overnights and sleeping during the day, or they're always on call for a birth,
so they end up, you know, having to reschedule things. But both of those doulas are doulas that I love working with. And, you know, this is a counterintuitive thought, but your business should work more for you than you should for it, right?
It should be the perfect business for your life and your lifestyle. And that changes every season. I mean, you know, I have three kids under my roof now. Next year, I'll only have two, but I will have someone in college who I will be visiting a lot more and will probably require, you know, more mental and emotional time from me.
So I want to be able to, at any given time, have my business still running and growing, but with me not actively taking part in it. And it just means to that, you know, I could go on vacation for, you know, two weeks.
But I also can work from my phone. So I will probably never say like, I'm on vacation, you know, I will not respond to anything. But I can be laying on the beach, sending a contract or I can be laying on the beach, um, you know, using voxer and answering questions from my clients that need something pretty now, you know, and I don't mind that it almost feels like, like, I'm proud of myself, it's empowering to be able to work on vacation,
but not have it seem like work. I love that, because I think it also speaks to what that work life balance looks like for you, right? Where like, for some folks, they're like, I want to work 30 hours a week, and then have an entire month where I'm not interacting with a single person, you know, and they're like, I don't want to see people, I don't want to talk to people, and maybe I have a passive income thing that's going,
and maybe I have an admin, like looking over that, you know, but I don't want to answer emails, I don't want to answer voxer, I don't want to, you know, any of those things. But that looks so different for each of us.
And part of what's awesome about this birth space is that we can be really super creative about how we function. It doesn't have to be a replica of someone else's business, you know, it's not only one way.
And the clients aren't missing anything, whether you're doing things, you know, virtually, or, you know, sometimes via email, we're not neglecting them in any way. So we can tell we can still take exceptional care of whoever we're caring for, even if we're not right in front of them.
And that's really important. We grossly neglect ourselves as doulas. And I honestly can think of another industry where we pour so much into our work and rarely recognize the fact that we need to refill our own cup.
And it's interesting, like how many times do you ignore on an airplane when they say, if you have kids, put your oxygen mask on first. And your first thought is like, oh my God, I would never, I would always go to my kids first.
But in the process of putting on their mask, you're dead. So it kind of starts there. You have to be the best you to take care of other people. And like, as a mom, you know, if I don't be selfish sometimes and be like, I'm not talking to anyone right now, like I need to take like a 30 minute shower, don't knock, don't, you know, yeah, it's not that I don't want to talk, but like, I will be a better mom when I'm out because I just gave myself time to like,
you know, yeah, refresh. Like, I need to refresh sometimes. You know, I, I co-host, um, the worker retreat every January. And it really is, it's a retreat where, you know, doulas can come and really refill their cup and set their intentions for the year and learn a little bit about business and really like, you know, do some face-to-face networking.
It's amazing. Um, and my kids begged to come and like, no, I want to be in Florida with you. I want to be on the beach with you. I want to be doing all the things with you. I literally, I want to be next to you for every moment of every day, but this is mine, this is for work and I promise you, I will, I will be much better.
Less me and mommy, I'm home. Um, and it's also, it's, it's good for me, but it's good for my business. And when my business does better, I can spend more time doing other things and, and those things are, you know, actually related to my kids and my family.
So they don't fully understand, you know, all that benefits them, but it does. And yeah, I would love to send my college and be like, you know what, even though it seems like I'm not always working because I have set myself up in this way, there's a good chance you will not have to repay a penny of a loan.
When you get out, you know, she doesn't care about that stuff now. She's just like, Oh, I'll get a great job and I'll pay it. I mean, I hope that you never have to do that. You're welcome. You know, um, yeah, I was able to start like a Roth for her, you know, last year.
And when you retire, you'll have a cool 2 million in the bank. She doesn't care about that now. But like, yeah, someone set up like that, you know, and now we know better, but the business. affords me that extra to do that for her.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. One of the things I talk about so much is being your own best boss, right? Like I'm like, if you're gonna work for yourself, please don't treat yourself shittier than other people treat you as an employee.
Like be the best one. Right, because you would never stay somewhere else. You would never stay working for somewhere else if you didn't get paid like the wage that you deserved. And like, it boggles my mind.
There are so many doulas who were like, ooh, I haven't really paid myself yet. I'm sorry, what? Like you're the CEO. Would you ever work? Would you ever show up somewhere where someone else didn't pay you?
Absolutely not, I hope not. Unless it's like a volunteer opportunity. Like that's not what I'm talking about. But like- Yeah, that's not a job. Yeah. No, that's good. And you're not taking it seriously.
Which means, you know, I think your mentality is not, your mindset is not gonna move you to a place where your business is then gonna be a serious business because you don't value it. Like- Yeah, yeah, totally.
Well, and I think there's, I mean, I very much believe that there are lots of layers to the burnout rate in doulas, but I think a big piece of it is that we start with such unsustainable practices, thinking like, well, when I'm bigger, I will have better boundaries, or when I'm bigger, I'll have a month off occasionally, or when I'm, you know, when my business has grown, I'll pay myself.
And I'm like, yeah, but in the meantime, you're going to burnout before you get to that. Yeah. Because I mean, yes, the average rate is five years, but I've seen doulas burn out in less than a pregnancy time, you know, like less than nine months.
And they're like, I can't keep doing this. And I'm like, part of it is how you set it up in the beginning, you know? Right, right. And I think too, there have been, you know, so many studies done about people who work overnight and in the negative effects that come along with that.
But I mean, realistically, when I worked nights, and I love nights, I love working nights, but I would bring crap to eat. I'm not bringing no salad. Like I'm, I would bring, and even at I had so many carbs, so much caffeine, and it took me days to like, recover, like just, you know, muscle exhaustion, but also like my belly was bad for days.
Like, it was terrible. Like I took the worst care of myself. It took me longer to recover, which just, you know, you know, kind of put a damper on other things. But, you know, when we don't, you're out what works best for us and works best for our family, you end up your family starts resenting you for being gone every night, and you end up leaving, you know, the industry for that reason, not necessarily because you're exhausted,
but because there's a lot of pushback in other places, and it doesn't work for your family life. I think, you know, because a business, our businesses is us, you know, we need to make it work for our lifestyle.
And if it doesn't, there's always be just that clash, and you will ultimately have to choose one or the other. We're not not choosing our family. Yeah, yeah. Well, and I mean, to that point, I think our burnout rates crazy high, but also doulas have a very high divorce rate, you know, which is a big piece of that as well, you know, so yeah.
Well, I, we need to have at least like two more conversations on the podcast because we could keep going forever. Part two and part three are coming soon and everything. Exactly. You'll hear more in 2025.
But Jodi, what would you say if there was one thing that you could leave our doula listeners with? What is that thing that you want them to take away from today? Um, I think it's going to sound kind of like hokey, but, um, you absolutely 100% can have the business of your dreams.
So when you are on an overnight and you have downtime and you're thinking about, you know, your goals, even if they're financial goals or lifestyle goals or, you know, goals for your, the impact on your community, whatever that looks like, that is your dream business.
That is what you're striving for. And there is. There's no reason, it is there for the taking. There's no reason that you can't have it. The reason that you may not get there is because you're not going after it.
Yeah, yeah, I love that. All of the information to get in touch with Jodi is in the show notes. Jodi, thank you so much for taking the time to hang out on the podcast and share with the listeners. And I'm excited about our number two and number three conversations in the future.
Me too, thank you so much for having me. Of course, of course. Everyone else, we will 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 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 Dulas 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.
Your Doula Business can truly THRIVE! It doesn’t need to be small. There are doulas out here changing the world and making good money as they do it and those two things are both beautiful and good! Jodi is an amazing example of this in her business and progression through her doula business.
Quote from Jodi
“I slightly pivoted to a little bit of mentorship from there, and then it just exploded into like, everyone needs something in the business side of being a doula. And I created some digital courses and started doing more strategy building with doulas. And right now I work with mainly six to multi six figure doulas who already have established businesses, but are really looking to scale. And what I love about it is I started as a doula working 25 hours a week, because I was responsible for kid drop off and pick up to now working, at some point I was working 60 or 70 hours a week doing doula care, births and postpartum, And now I'm kind of back to like the 15/20 hours, but on a much grander scale and helping like so many more families and doulas. And it's just, it's really taken off and it's just showed me that there really can be so much in owning your own business and birth in itself. ”
Meet Jodi Congdon:
Jodi’s journey into the world of pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding began with her own empowering experiences of giving birth, including welcoming two of her daughters right at home in the Boston area where she lives with her husband, three incredible daughters, two cats, and a dog.
Driven by a passion for learning and excellence in the perinatal field, Jodi is a certified Postpartum Doula and Lactation Educator. Her commitment to elevating birth and postpartum care led her to become a member of the CAPPA Faculty, where she proudly serves as a Postpartum Doula and Lactation Educator Trainer. She is also the creator of the Birth Boss educational series for doulas, which includes digital courses, live trainings and a membership community.
Connect with Jodi:
https://www.hiptoheart.com/
Podcast: https://www.hiptoheart.com/birth-boss-podcast
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
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
