How to Burnout-Proof Your Doula Business From Day One
Hey doula, what’s your business plan when you reach the point where you can’t be on call anymore?
Being on call can be extremely challenging during certain seasons of life…and what many doulas don’t realize in time (before they abandon ship) is that there are sooooo many facets to birth work beyond supporting births in person!
If you’ve been wondering how to sustain your doula career through motherhood, vacations, and well, just life…then get out a pen and paper, this episode is for you.
Things you’ll learn in this episode:
How to set up your business so you can choose when you want to be on call…
The numerous ways to work in the birth community without sacrificing your boundaries…
Why you can’t make any more excuses for not starting the career of your dreams…
… and a whole lot more!
Once upon a time, a few years ago, I was listening to a birth story podcast…
…And my entire world changed.
This woman was telling her birth story… and all of a sudden I heard a word that changed the course of my entire life. I heard the word "doula.” Before that day, I had NEVER heard the word doula. Crazy, right?! Even though I was actively trying to conceive and I was starting to get obsessed with birth…
When I heard the word “doula”, immediately it was like somebody poured gasoline on my soul and lit it on fire… I just knew that was it. That’s what I want to do. That is who I want to be. I want to be a doula.
So next, I did all the things you're "supposed to do”… I paid the $2,000 to take an in-person, 3-day doula training course. It was in Atlanta, so I bought a plane ticket, flew to Atlanta, and I stayed in an Airbnb… In total, my doula training cost me close to $4,000.
I left Atlanta feeling so excited… I felt that fire in my soul. I knew that this is my life's purpose.
“This is what I’m supposed to be doing,” I thought.
When I got home, I quit my well-paying job to go all in on doing this birth doula thing… But the second I quit my job, the excitement shifted into fear. It suddenly became super nerve-racking. My partner only made $23 per hour… and we lived in a house with a mortgage that was ~$2,500 before bills. So when I quit my job, things got REAL.
At that point, my doula business required me to be ON…meaning if I wasn’t on call for a birth, I wasn’t paying my mortgage or putting food on my table.
This way of operating worked out fine for a while…but then I got pregnant. As my due date approached, I had this “Oh shit…” moment where I realized:
“I don’t want to be on a call with a newborn…and I don't wanna go back to work for someone else…but I have a mortgage to pay.”
Being a birth doula and being my own boss was great…
…but if it meant that I was going to constantly be stressed out about finding clients, being on call, making enough money to pay my mortgage, and finding someone to watch my kid…yeah, that's not really what I signed up for. That’s not the dream that my 3-day doula training sold me.
Growing up, both of my parents worked. They sent us to public school, daycare, after-school care, YMCA, etc. They were both self-employed, but they still stressed about money. I didn't want that to become my life. I didn't want to have my own business and still be too busy to spend time with my kids. And on top of that, not even make enough money to do all of the things that I want to do with my family.
That’s not success to me.
But that’s where a lot of doulas and other birthworkers get stuck.
I almost got stuck there. If I had continued on and tried and do birth work how everyone else was doing it, I would've given up as soon as I had my baby. I wasn’t going to be on call while I had a newborn, so that would have been the end of birth work for me. That would've been the end of the Autonomy Mommy.
To tell you the truth, that is the end for thousands of birth workers, every single year. These doulas hit this same roadblock where they don’t want to be on call as much as they need to be, and then they quit. The dream is over.
For me, it was super scary to say, “Yes, I am a birth doula, but I am not taking clients right now.” I didn't know anyone else who was doing that. So instead, I found a way to make birth work not only my career, but a sustainable career… A career where I didn't have to be on call while my daughter was a newborn. So next, I got to work. I took business courses, I grew my Instagram, I started a podcast, and I set out to find a way that I could continue my dream career without being on call.
What I did, unknowingly, is I unlocked the secret to protecting myself from burnout from the start.
So here I am today, stepping into this role, and into this calling to help new and aspiring doulas just like you, understand that…
It's possible to create a sustainable doula business from day one.
I don't want you to wait until you get to that “Oh shit…” moment to understand that there are so many facets to birth work beyond supporting birth in person. From the very start of your time as a doula, you need to be intentional with your choices so that you don't burn the candle at both ends. You need to set yourself up so that when you do decide to take time off from attending births in person, you’ve safeguarded your entire business. You’re not putting all of your eggs in one basket.
So, what does this look like in my doula business? I have an entire stack of pre-recorded online birth courses that range from $22-$397. I’m able to sell those online because I understand the framework for building a community. I have built up this online presence so that people buy my birth courses every single day from across the world, even while I’m sleeping.
Don’t just take my word for it… It’s working for others too. It works for all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. The goal here is not to do things exactly like me, the goal here is for you to understand the framework, and how to make your birth business fit your lifestyle, no matter what that looks like.
My friend Haley, you might know her as Hehe, runs a doula agency called Tranquility by Hehe, she attends births in person, and she does postpartum support. But her key to burnout-proofing her business is her membership called The Birth Lounge where moms pay a low monthly fee to get access to her database of birth education and to get to attend her weekly group coaching sessions.
Maybe you're thinking, “Okay Kyleigh, I am just not a birth education type of person. I’m not cut out for that. That is not for me.”
I have good news, you don’t have to be!
@thenakeddoula on Instagram, her name is Emma (and she is just absolutely killing it), she attends births, yes, she does childbirth education, yes, but I wanna talk about something else that she does that you can absolutely implement into your birth business to protect yourself from that on-call burnout. She is an artist and she has created tons of both digital downloads and tangible products like affirmation cards that she sells on her website. She has well over 100,000 followers on Instagram right now, which you might think unattainable right now…
But let me warn you, you can blow up overnight.
It happened to me, and I wasn't prepared for it. I have spent the last 12 months playing catch up with my business. All of these women around the world wanted support and education from me… so I had to figure out what could I offer to support all of these moms and help them have amazing births.
So, my point is that I don't want you to get into the mindset of, “When I have 1,000 followers, then I will do these things,” or “When I have more clients, then I will start thinking about what am I going to offer beyond in-person doula support.”
My whole point here is to help you understand that you need to implement these tips from the get-go so that you avoid ever getting from that place of “Oh shit…” or “I don't even know what to do.”
So here’s your homework…
Every single day, I want you to ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing sustainable?”
thank you for listening
If this episode lights you up, I’d love it if you’d rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. After you review the show, snap a pic and upload it here… and I’ll send you a little surprise as a thank you.
Your feedback helps this podcast grow and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you!
And don’t forget to subscribe to the Birthworker Podcast on iTunes to make sure you never miss an episode.
a free gift for you!
Grow your income and make a lasting impact on the global birth community (even when you’re not on call for a birth).
✨ GROW YOUR IMPACT
Learn 12 ways to grow your impact (and make more money) as a doula even when you're not on call.
✨ TIME-SAVING TOOLS
Systems I use behind the scenes in my doula business to make my life easier.
✨ BIRTHWORKER ACADEMY
Go from side-gig doula to full-time birthworker... so you can impact lives all across the world.
more episodes for you...
Meet your host, Kyleigh Banks, a side-gig doula turned CEO of a multi-six-figure birth-focused business. Her passion? Teaching birth nerds, like you, how to build an incredibly successful doula business that allows you to quit your day job, stay home with your kids, and most importantly, make a lasting impact on the world.