Episode 135 transcript:

Hi everybody. And I am so excited to welcome back our guest. It's Melissa Fernandez. She is a postpartum doula, but also now a doula business coach. Yes, yes. Um, I was looking for the correct title. And so we were kind of, I, I have to tell you this, if you hear this in the background thunderer and lightning. Yes. It's because apparently every time I get on zoom with Melissa, we create significant environmental storms. I just got a text from my mother that said, there's a tornado watch in the area. <laugh> you're Kidding. Oh my goodness. 

She remembered our, our, the first time Melissa's on the podcast. And we told this story about the first time we got on zoom together and there was a tornado situation. So we'll see if I lose connection. I don't know if I'm gonna lose connection or not, but we'll see. So welcome back, Melissa, give us an update. What are the things, what are you, you know, where I know you're now with child, which you were not before, so share update. 

Yeah. So it's super exciting to be back here again. Thank you for inviting me on, uh, yes, I am currently pregnant 36 weeks, so I'm close to the end. And the last time we were chatting, I had recently put out my postpartum class templates, which was super exciting. It's been a massive success in serving other doulas and helping them create classes and courses that they share within their communities. And the impact of it has been so much larger than I ever even imagined. So that was a really beautiful thing to experience. And since then, I've just kind of been growing from that, that space and continuing this notion of growing a virtual postpartum doula business, growing into the, uh, business coaching side of things as well, and continuing to provide doulas and birth professionals tools in how they can start promoting their work in the virtual space as well. 

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so most recently I created the virtual doula framework, which is a course that can show birth professionals, how to create their own virtual doula services online mm-hmm <affirmative>. And I see this really important trend that a lot of, not a trend, but like a movement, almost that more people are finding the importance of choosing a pathway that aligns with what's best for them and their families and their current situations, wherever they're at. And oftentimes the online space is a really great place for that. Mm-hmm <affirmative> because it allows you flexibility and you get to create a work environment that works for you. That doesn't require the, the hustle and the, you know, 60 hour work weeks. So it's, it's really fascinating and fun to watch all of this come together and also expand within that for my business. 

Yeah. And I mean, that's exactly what you did, right. Because it was, uh, early 20, 21 ish. Nope. That's not correct. Is it? I'm trying to remember exactly when I first met you. 

Oh, it was in 2020 number of 21. 

Right. Okay. And you were doing in person postpartum work, you know, the Atlanta postpartum doula and you, the, you know, your story, which you shared on the podcast before was CIR du sole, um, athlete, artist, athlete, athlete, CIR du sole athlete, um, turned postpartum doula. And you were like the Atlanta postpartum doula, which you are still on Instagram, but you know, you were going in, um, mostly in person, you know, at the time. And I remember having these conversations with you about like going back and forth and traveling all over Atlanta because traffic is a thing and, you know, making, making rounds, and at the time you were like, I don't really wanna be doing this stuff, you know? And so that was really what we focused on was starting to shift your business and bring your business virtual so that you could be home. And so that you could spend more time with the family. So, um, I guess this would be helpful since we're talking, shifting in person services really, and not just doula support or doula work, but traditionally in person work, um, and shifting it virtual. So what was that like for you to take that traditionally in person work and start to bring it virtual? 

Yeah. It's so, uh, it's really beautiful to hear you say that or just to share that big transition because you know, sometimes we do have a hard time celebrating those big shifts and those big wins. Um, and yeah, I was doing in person work for a little bit there and I found that it wasn't working and making that shift for me. It, it was not hard, but also there were challenges involved because there is this concept that we all know that this is how we work is it's in person. You trade your time for, for dollars. And that's the, the norm, but I've always been someone who challenges the status quo. I'm someone who's very open to. Okay, well, why don't we try something else? Maybe this will work better. And that's why I love working with you because you see visions, you see not like visions, but you see that this could be a pathway that would work for you. 

And having someone who supports that was very, very valuable to me. And I loved the work that we've been doing and to see where I've gone from then to now is incredible. And yeah, like I said, it wasn't easy at first, but little by little, I created those pathways that allowed me to be working more in the virtual space versus trading my time for dollars. And it was a gradual, uh, like export out of it. Like it, wasn't just all of a sudden I wasn't working in people's homes, but I started to take less clients on in person. And I started to create more online courses, classes the templates came about and also virtual packages too. Those were, you know, something that also supported my business while I transitioned to fully online. 

Mm-hmm <affirmative> and you have, um, oh, I'm glad you brought that up because you have a really, I don't say it like a knack for creating like digital resources, you know, so Melissa and I have a lot of really SIM similarities. Um, I built my business with a lot of these foundational, like digital resources, my online stuff. And that was really, it came easy to you, you know, like it took some practice, right? Like you were like, it wasn't easy, but you know, it's, there were some challenges, but you got in there and you're like, okay, did it? Okay. Did it okay, done? What next? You know, what am I trying next? What am I trying next? And you were really great at hopping in trying things, seeing what fits, seeing what works and creating these digital resources for initially for your postpartum clients. It was like, you were like, yeah, I did it. Yeah, I did it. Yeah, I did it. And then other postpartum doulas were like, how'd you do that? How'd you do that? You know? And it was really similar. I felt like to how it was just a very organic transition, like the next part of your journey. It was just very organic because people start asking and you're like, yeah, I can help you and teach you how to do this too kind of thing. 

And this is what I'm finding is the most exciting thing about going virtual or moving, even just part of your business online. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. It can be a hybrid mm-hmm <affirmative>. But when you allow yourself that space to put your uniqueness, your knowledge, your education, your fun, your, the, the, your passion, and you tidy it up into either a resource or a tool or a workbook ebook, a mini course, something that you do really, really well. And you're able to provide it to families in the online space. And then you can scale that you are able to impact more people. And that's what I am finding is so beautiful about being in this online space is that it gives you the opportunity to serve more people. And you also get to implement your unique gifts to the world because of this space that we have now, 

Right? Like if you think about it from a consumer perspective, right. I purchase things from people. I have, um, most recent example, right. Is like something super traditionally in person, um, face yoga, right? So like I bought this subscription to a face yoga person I saw on Instagram and that's traditionally an in person think yoga traditionally in person, right. And face yoga, like probably traditionally in person, but I bought it. And she has like this subscription membership and there's all these videos in her gym. She calls it her gym and I can go. And she lives somewhere in Eastern Europe. And I can go on at 6:00 AM in the mornings, usually is when I get in my quick video and I do it in the bathroom and I do my like ridiculous looking face yoga stuff. And I watch her replay and everybody's happy. Like I am replay queen and these, um, the technology that we have access to and the things we have access to, um, makes it so much easier. 

Like you said, to get your work into more in front of more people, because even if there's a location piece, right. She's in Eastern Europe, I'm in Florida, in the United States. There's also the time in scheduling thing. Like people making things live is an issue. You know, I see it with my clients all the time. People in the online business school are always watching replays, catching up, binge watching. They may have checked out a business for a whole month, and now they're hopping back in and trying to, you know, binge the last month worth of things they missed. It's a beautiful thing to be able to create these types of resources so that you can be helping people while you're living life. And traditionally in person things still work. Right. Like something that I, um, another example is like massage therapy. Right. I had met a massage therapist that did a specific type of fertility massage, um, probably a little low. It was before COVID no, it was right when COVID first kicked off. And she was like, well, how am I gonna do this? You know, fertility massage, it's in person. And I'm like, why don't you teach partners how to do fertility massage via video, you know, via zoom. Like, there's just so many ways to bring traditionally in person things virtual. And then, like you said, too, if you wanna do hybrid hybrid, you know? 

Absolutely. And that's, what's fun too. I mean, at least I find it really fun is that you get to create mm-hmm, <affirmative> a new pathway you get to create, okay, what does virtual doula aim look like? Yeah. And you feel into that, and then you find the value in it. And I love that you brought up the massage fertility, like my first thought was like, oh, you teach someone how to do it. Like, oh, that is so cool. Because that's what I experience when I do physical therapy, pelvic floor, physical therapy. That's why I have a passion for seeing PTs because they teach me how to do this stuff at home so that I can, you know, take care of myself when that thing flares up. And so I love being able to learn skills like that and allowing entrepreneurs to be creative in their work that they do and create new ways to serve people is what entrepreneurship is all about. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so this is a super exciting time for entrepreneurs. I think I, I see so much excitement around it. 

Yeah. I, me too. And like, to be able to sustain the business and to be able to sustain life and all the things, having multiple sort multiple ways that, you know, income flows into the business, you might still have some in person clients, and you might have some virtual and you might have some classes and you might have some of this or some downloads or a book or an Ebo, like ultimately, maybe not today or tomorrow, but you start planting the seeds for really growing the business in a, in a beyond sustainable way, you know? 

Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's kind of the, the icing on the cake, right. That kind of comes along with this creative fun piece of what you're working on. And that's like the bonus of it all right, is that it is creating sustainability for the type of work that you want to do. 

Mm-hmm <affirmative> and so passive income is something I wanted to bring up and talk to you about. Um, because I know that you have quite a bit of experience with passive income also. So you wanna share a little bit about like initially and how you got into it, what you think, you know, what your yeah. Your journey and passive income. 

Sure. You know, it started off really quick. I just naturally gravitate towards that. It is super fun for me. It makes a lot of sense to receive money when I'm sleeping. I love that. <laugh> I think it's so much fun. And even when I started working with you, I immediately started working with affiliate programs, um, because I didn't have any of my own content at that time to sell in the digital space. So for me, affiliate marketing worked really well. And they were already like products that I love, you know, I was, uh, promoting your birth class because also I was a postpartum doula. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So I started with affiliate marketing right away. And that was one of my streams of passive income and alongside working in person for postpartum doula. And then that gradually shifted into, okay, I'm ready to start creating my own courses. 

And that's where I started creating my newborn care class and postpartum planning classes. And then from there I realized, okay, this could be something more. And that's where the templates for doulas came about because I saw the need for other doulas to be creating classes in their own businesses to serve more clients mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so that was kind of the natural progression of where one simple idea of passive income in this way of affiliate marketing grew to plant. It was like planting the seed, right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> and it eventually created those templates. And now I've got the second, the next course that I created with the virtual doula framework. So it's, it's an evolution, right? These pieces kind of come together and it also brings in this notion of yes, this takes time and it does require patience and a lot of trust, a lot of faith that it is going to pan out. And sometimes it just takes time. 

Yeah, that's true. I guess we probably jumped, I probably jumped ahead assuming that people know. Um, so if you're listening and you're like, what the heck is passive income? What's affiliate income. I just assumed that people know, um, if you don't know, it's totally okay. I, it wasn't that long ago that I was like, what are they talking about? So passive income income that you earn, um, from not working, not being active. Right. So think, um, an ex one of the types of passive income is affiliate income affiliate income would be like your, um, in Melissa's, uh, business. For example, in the beginning, she was an affiliate for kindred bravely, which is a brand that creates like nursing wear and things they specialize in like night wear and nursing wear and stuff like that for, um, for, you know, that pregnancy and postpartum period. So if you wanna be an affiliate for their stuff and you recommend their stuff and people use your code or your unique links, you get a kickback or passive income affiliate income for referring people to their stuff. 

Network marketing is another example, even though sometimes it has a bad rep. It's an example, you know, you can earn affiliate income. If you are like a beauty, beauty counter, um, representative, I'm not sure what word they use or like young living. I'm using those two examples, cuz those are two brands that I've purchased from in the past. Um, and so you can earn income from sharing things that you use and like, and you usually would have like a, a unique URL. So a unique web link to access your store or you'd have like a code that people can use for your, like you see people on Instagram, like use code Nicole 15 to get 15% off. And when they do that, then that brand, or that company knows that it was Nicole that sent the referral and you'd get whatever your agreement is for affiliate income. 

There's other forms of passive income too. Right? Sore affiliate income is one example. Melissa's done affiliates with kindred also with my stuff, like she mentioned because she was doing postpartum work and some of her clients needed birth classes, but she didn't have birth classes cuz that wasn't really her juice. So she would refer using my affiliate platform, refer my course and earn a percentage of the sale and the same thing still holds true. And actually now that something that I've introduced just as recent as like last month to the online business school, as members in the online business school can be affiliates for the birth course, the VBA course that I have, but also my business courses that are inside of the online business school. So there's other opportunities to earn back your investment or part of your investment, should you desire to do so, right when you share the things that you enjoy, like Melissa said, and then outside of affiliate income, right? There's other passive income. So Melissa went on to create her own digital products. So she had this, let's say her templates. So it ended up with, there were a lot of people that ended up, um, owning, um, owning the templates. 

<laugh> so all these folks who own the templates who purchased it from her that is passive income. She made the thing one time and then you continued to sell it over time. Another example is the digital doula content toolkit now referred to as the doula content toolkit. So the doula's content toolkit that I have was a digital product. I made it one time. So digital product, it was like PDF. I think it came with yeah, an Excel sheet, a couple other digital products. I made it and then I can sell it over and over and over and over again, without any more active work, just offering it for sale. And so you create, um, a real and the profit margin can be incredible for digital products because unless you're running ads, there really is no overhead. Once you've created it, once you've made the thing, there's typically no overhead. 

So those are just a couple examples of passive income. And I personally love, um, I think affiliate income is great, especially if it's something you really enjoy and you took a lot of value from, it brings extra revenue. When you spread the love, spread, what you love, um, creating your own is also super powerful because of the profit margin, right? Like selling the content tool, giver $21. I keep $21. Well I guess there's like that roughly 3% fee that like Stripe or payment processors keep, but it's super low, you know? And so, um, I just to back up and make sure everybody knows, like that's what we are saying when we're talking about, um, passive income and then that affiliate income. 

Yep, exactly. And I use also a lot of email marketing for my passive income. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and it's the same, the same process that you mentioned. You said it, you create it one time and then it's kind of like you forget it and it works for you. Yeah. Which is what I love about it too. Is there is an upfront, you know, time commitment where you might have to either implement a few pieces or you create the course that you're wanting to sell passively, but once you do it the one time, that's it mm-hmm <affirmative> and that's what I find exciting. I love, I love doing that stuff. That's just my job. 

Yeah, you do. And you really do. And I do too, especially, um, I do too. I like creating a lot of those resources and like, um, those digital assets, you know, your email sequence is really an asset in your business and having a digital product for sale is an asset in your business. And I like creating assets, but if you're listening to this and you're like, oh my God, it's so overwhelming. Um, what I'll say is that is perfectly normal for, um, people who might be in my space because if you're a heart centered entrepreneur, there's probably a decent chance that you are an energy worker and energy workers. Don't always love creating digital resources. You know, it's like, ah, I hate that. Like you like the concept of it. And it sounds great to have somebody hand you a template to go build a class and go teach a class, cuz you wanna be with the people, energy healers, massage therapists, um, practitioners of various techs. 

Like you like to be with the people and connect with the people. And that's what really lights you up. So people like Melissa and myself bringing you digital resources, that's what light us up. Like I like being with the people too, but I'm not, we're not, it's not the same experience. And so, um, I think it's a beautiful thing when all of us are bringing our own unique skill set and passions and joys to this industry or really beyond the birth industry, but into, um, I guess overall it's kind of lumped into like wellness, um, into the heart centered business space and allowing each person to bring their own piece helps us move our work forward. Because if you're somebody who's more of an energy worker and you like to be holding clients, not just in person, but virtually whatever. And you like to be one on one, but creating a course sounds like literal hell, you can let somebody else do that part for you, you know, and then take their tools and go teach it. 

And that's what I think is beautiful. As you were saying, all that, what, what was coming through was like a puzzle. It's a really like, and the piece is just fitting in so nicely and beautiful so that we can create this picture of this mission that we all are each trying to move forward in supporting families during their pregnancy and postpartum mm-hmm <affirmative> if you know, you're a birth professional, but yeah, it's, it's super beautiful and we all have those gifts and why not lean on the people who, you know, we're creating the, this content so that you can be in person with your clients. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, that's what I love about all this. Yeah. 

Which really what a great example is to think about, right? Like if, if you're a good listening to this and you're not a birth worker, you don't have to be a birth worker to get this example. But when you have a baby, you know, and you have your team, it's not just a birth support team, but it's like a team that helps you become a parent. You know, there's people along the journey and you bring all these people, Melissa and I both are like pulling our, pulling your hands, like your fingers together and interlocking, right? So you have like people on your team that do unique things. So you have, you might have an OB, you might have a midwife, you might have a doula. You might have, um, a person that taught you how to swaddle a baby. You might have, um, let me think somebody else who does a mother blessing, but then after the birth, you might have a postpartum doula. 

You might have a housekeeper and you might have Instacart. Instacart's part of the team. Yeah. You have like a team and all these people are bringing their unique skill sets and stuff together to help you move forward in this journey of being a parent. And it's like that in business, you know, you are birthing your business and you need a team and allow people to bring in their unique things to help you do what you shine with. You know, I remember bringing in, um, a nanny at one point or like a mother's helper and there's various. She doesn't always help at that time. She didn't always help with the kids. Sometimes she was helping with the dishes and the laundry. So I could be with the kids cuz I wanted to be with the kids without worrying about that at that moment. Other times I'm like, here you take him, <laugh> I'm gonna go for a walk. Right? So like let people show up and shine to let you do what you wanna do. The part that really lights you up. 

Absolutely. It's so important to be reminded of that. That, uh, as we are in the entrepreneur space is that we also need that support for our business. Yeah. That, you know, maybe we're really good about doing that for our family or ourselves in our life, but you can also be supported in your business in whatever way that looks like for you. 

Mm-hmm <affirmative> yeah, you definitely don't have to do it alone. It's a, it's an unschool. That's what we're gonna do, cuz we're doing, um, every podcast episode, we're doing this unschool, your business thought. So let's do that. Cuz we kind of backed into it. Our unschool year business thought of the week is you don't have to do it alone. Like there is no medal for starting your business by yourself and this pride for like, I, I was so hard. I built it on my back. Like it doesn't have to be like that. It's like becoming a parent. You don't have to do it alone. There's no prize for that. 

And it removes that overwhelmed piece that you, you talked about just a little bit before, because it can seem really overwhelming if you're maybe in the beginning stages of your journey. And you're like, I see all these pieces that I want to get done and I want to accomplish them or that is going to help my business be where it, you know, where I desire it to be. But where do I even start? Mm-hmm <affirmative> and sometimes having a little bit of support along the way along the path helps you remove that overwhelm. 

Totally. So my last question is, well first if you wanna connect with Melissa on Instagram, she's at the Atlanta P P D 

The dot Atlanta dot postpartum dot doula. 

<laugh> so I'm gonna link it in the show notes. <laugh> just in case I'll link her Instagram in the show notes. Um, and then my question is, um, do you wanna tell people a little bit about the framework about your new thing? 

Yes, I would love to. So it is the virtual framework, the virtual doula framework, it's for birth professionals to create their first virtual service in just five days. The other piece of it though, is that maybe you have already created a virtual service. You can refine your service, or like I mentioned in this podcast, uh, you kind of build on it. So maybe you've already, you know, done a couple, maybe a freebie opt-in or you've made a course before. And so now you're wanting to refine your online services. It's a great tool for that as well. And you can find that on my website and I also have a free passive income training. If anyone is wanting to know more, a little bit about passive income. 

Oh, that's awesome. Yes. I'll link, um, to all things in the show note, so you can feel free to check it out. Um, and by the time you hear this, you, Melissa Mayer may not be a mother of three. You know, the baby, well, you already are, but you know, with baby in arms. So that is also side note. Before we go, like people who are running businesses that are also growing families when you're birthing a business and a family, um, having streamlined digital things, things that are trains that are running on their own and these digital assets, it is honestly, it, it is really, I don't wanna say necessary, but in my head it's so necessary for us to be able to live our life and be with babies and be with the other children who now are welcoming a sibling and be with ourselves. Like we just have to have use the resources that are available to you. Really. 

Absolutely. And that's where some of these products kind of came to creation is I've been working with you for quite some time. Now we've been talking about this for months for like six months. Okay. How can we get you supported during your, your maternity leave? Right. And so it's really, really beautiful to see what has come up in these last six months from, you know, really honing in on, okay, how can we create some passive income, some, you know, classes, courses, so that you're supported for maternity. And you know, I love working with you, Nicole. It's been fun, 

Same, same. And you now get to teach people while you are with your baby. Like people still get to learn from you. You don't have to everything. Doesn't pause. When you go have the baby people still get to learn from you while you are doing your thing. And it's so cool. Also it is like it's one of the coolest experiences in my career to be able to support people like you and in my business, like it's so fun. Maybe one day we'll have a conversation on here about, um, about manifesting your dream client, that magnetic marketing, like really you are a result of that manifestation and manifesting your dream clients. You know, all my clients are like, we it's, it's really fun. I enjoy it. I'm excited for what's to come and to share your magic with everybody that hangs out with us on the podcast.