The #1 Piece of Advice Every Doula Needs to Hear ASAP
How many birth-related certifications will you need to feel like you’re “good enough?”
I see too many doulas slip into the self-limiting mindset of “I’m not good enough…” or “I don’t have enough knowledge yet…” and I’m really over it.
So, if you’ve been wondering how to leave your self-limiting beliefs behind, then get out a pen and paper, this episode is for you.
Things you’ll learn in this episode:
How to get off of the “I need just one more certification” hamster wheel…
Why you don’t need to give birth yourself to be successful in the birth world…
What’s truly holding you back from stepping into your power as an entrepreneur…
… and a whole lot more!
There are a ton of common self-limiting beliefs in birthwork…
…and you know what? I used to feel them all the time too.
They sound like, "Once I have 1,000 followers, then I will take a business class and expand my offerings…”
Or “I haven’t given birth before, so how can I even work in the birth community when I haven’t experienced birth firsthand…”
Or even, “I’m going to discount my prices because I don’t have much experience...” (The horror!)
Or sometimes it can show up like, “I’ll just get all my certifications first… I’ll get my doula certification, my postpartum certification, my sleep training certification, I'll become a lactation consultant… And then I can be successful.”
I call that last one the dreaded certification hamster wheel, and it’s something I see all over the birth community… and it’s 100% stopping women from creating their dream six-figure doula business.
So many doulas feel like they don’t have what they need to start… so they start looking beyond themselves. They go out, grind away, get all of these certifications…and then what?
Their special (and expensive) pieces of paper get covered in dust on their walls before they can ever pay them off.
If that’s you… you’re not alone.
I took my Doula training less than 4 years ago, and one of those years I spent in that cycle of self-doubt… I kept thinking, “Well I don't have a baby yet, so how can I do this?”
I was on that certification hamster wheel too!
I felt like if I just got more certifications, did more programs, and learned more birth theory, and then maybe, just maybe clients would want to hire me.
Then, two years ago I said, “What I’m doing isn't f-ing working, I need to change something.”
That's when I started to truly see my doula business as a business. Instead of investing in certifications simply out of fear that I wasn’t an “expert” enough, I started seeing myself as an entrepreneur.
I invested in business courses that would help me take my love and passion for birth, and help me get that into the hands of more people so I can impact more lives.
So, if you're sitting there reading this blog and thinking, “Well I don't have kids yet,” or “Maybe I just am not good enough…”
Do you know who else started on this path before they had kids? I did! And so did tons of other highly successful, passionate birth workers.
Haley from Tranquility by HeHe doesn't have children, but she runs an insanely successful worldwide doula agency and birth education business.
Emily Saldaya from the Freebirth Society created a freaking empire in the niche of freebirth before she had her daughter.
The more you look around and start seeing people who started where you are now, you’ll start to break down your self-limiting beliefs and see that nothing is holding you back except for you.
Hear this loud and clear: There is no arbitrary level of expertise that you need in order to be worthy of calling yourself a doula, or finding success in birthwork. Your success in this community will in no way be tied to your knowledge about birth or your experience as a doula.
Success is almost always based on knowledge and experience, right? Well, no. Not in birth, and not necessarily in business either. Your success in this community will be built on the foundation of who you are as a person, and the framework you have to finding your zone of genius and understanding how to get that into the hands of more people.
Gone are the years of conforming to fit what everyone else is doing. It’s time to say no to that, and YES to building exactly the kind of life and business you want for yourself.
thank you for listening
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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.