Episode 154 transcript:

00:04 So it's been well over a year since I last did a birth industry forecast. And back then in August of 2021, I did a report on the virtual doula forecast. 00:16 Fast forward to present day and we have actual industry analysis out to report on, and I, even though I'm working with more than birth professionals now, this is always gonna have a place in my heart and a lot of my community is still in the birth industry. 00:32 So when I saw this in my inbox this week, I was like, Okay, I have to speak on this. I have things to say because we have this information, we have this industry analysis about the projections for for the birth industry, but then what do we do with this information? 00:48 And so one of my, I'm gonna own it, one of my gifts is I can make this information tactile. I can give you something in action steps to take it and bring it to life and do something with this. 01:00 So that's what we're gonna do. Buckle up. All right. The future market insights is their report. I'm gonna quote what they say about the birth industry. 01:11 Quote, Dualism and birth coaching are likely to become increasingly popular as midwives and obstetricians continue to stress teamwork, which results in a steady increase in the percentage of births attended by midwives. 01:24 And quote, and I got so excited when I saw that. They also go on to say that the market is expected to go from about 13 and a half billion this year in 2022 to 24 and a half billion in 2032. 01:40 So 10 years from now, that's 82% growth over 10 years, the compounded annual rate is like six something, 6% and change. 01:52 But over the course of the next 10 years, we're talking 82% potential growth. Now this is what's expected growth. And as you know, I think the expected as helpful for a point of reference. 02:07 But I like to live in Candyland. This is something that I said on a training recently on a private course training I was teaching. 02:13 I kind of jokingly referred to like the highest possibility as Candyland, like the dreamy place. And I used candy land because my, one of my kids like is obsessed with candy land and it to me feels like fun. 02:27 So I like to kind of explore the dreamy space, the candy land, like this is what we expect, but what about the highest possibility? 02:35 If we looked at this as like the minimum is 82% growth, that's pretty damn exciting to think that the minimum would be 82% growth, but it could be so much more than that. 02:50 So let's just preface this conversation with let's move into Candyland and believe something is possible even beyond This 82% growth. 03:00 But it is helpful to have something to anchor into some evidence that we're seeing that this is the minimum that we're, that the market insights, future market insights is predicting Now we have something concrete that people can get behind. 03:14 Now we can move forward and start to get into dreamy land, into candy land. Okay, so first off, can we celebrate us? 03:22 Like can we, can I celebrate you because this is our work. This is what we've been doing is everything we've been doing. 03:30 And even if you're not a birth doula or a birth coach, if you are any way connected to the birth industry, you're helping activists. 03:40 If all you're doing is activism, you're helping if you're service provider to the birth professionals. So for example, if you are a lawyer who drafts contract templates and does legal work and agreement work for doula collectives and individual doulas who are going out on their own, If you are a virtual assistant, if you are a social media strategist, if you're a business coach, if you're a website, unicorn <laugh>, if you are a branding expert and you work with birth professionals, you are helping them with tools to do their job more efficiently, more streamlined, and to help them grow even more. 04:22 If you are someone who doesn't even provide a service to birth professionals, but you have maybe had a baby or you realize how effed up the old systems were for maternal healthcare and you're sharing posts, for example, let's say you follow me or you follow some other doulas and you see something that I share of someone else's and you share it to help bring awareness, you're helping. 04:47 Or if you're a parent who has hired a doula or a birth coach, you're helping if you then went on to refer your friends and family and spread the word about what a difference this makes, you're helping because it takes more than one of us to create this movement that we've created. 05:07 And I am so proud of us because I have not been in this industry as long as probably some of you listening. 05:15 I really didn't take my birth doula training until 2018. I took childbirth education training in 2017. So five years. I really in, in the grand scheme of things, it hasn't been that long. 05:30 And just five years ago when I first got moving, there were not that many doula websites. There was a lot of doulas, but not many people who had a social media platform where they were creating content to educate, to inform. 05:44 Not that many blogs, not that many websites, not that many ticks or LinkedIn. Like it was not as easy to find doulas online or if they had a website, it was like a one page, here's my name, here's a blanket statement, a definition of what doula support is from the internet and here's how to contact me. 06:07 And there's nothing wrong with all of those things. That's where it was, right? But like the work we've been doing over the last several years is working, doulas are visible and growing and word is spreading and social media is one of the tools that's helping that happen. 06:24 So whatever your thoughts are on social media and your beliefs, even if you don't like it, I hear you and I don't, it's fine. 06:29 You know, it's okay to think that. But also like can we acknowledge that this mostly free tool that we have is helping grow the industry? 06:38 It's helping grow our businesses, it's helping us connect with our potential clients of the world and educating the masses. Things are shifting, things are moving and it's happening even when it doesn't seem like it or it isn't happening on your ideal timeline, right? 06:58 And that's such an important message to remember and this context. And then in other areas of life, we want things right now. 07:05 We're so used to things happening right now and when we want them, we are not a patient group of people. 07:14 If our business hasn't blown up by a certain arbitrary date, we feel like we failed. If we don't have a full book of clients within a certain number of days or months, then it's not working right? 07:30 But it is working, it's always working. Some people's journeys take a different timeframe than others. So what can you do? 07:42 What are the action steps? Like how do we take this information and bring it into our reality and jump on the train to Candyland, like be a part of it if it continues to call you? 07:55 Of course if you still feel pulled to the birth industry and you're like, Well, I'm just not getting hired won wa wa how can you turn that around knowing what you know now, knowing that this industry is going to grow, now you have something to get behind. 08:12 What do you do to start? Keep doing what you're doing. I'm just gonna give you a handful of ideas that I came up with. 08:19 This is not all inclusive like comprehensive list, but keep doing what you're doing. You're planting seeds. I posted something on Instagram yesterday and actually last week's podcast was about low engagement. 08:34 Engagement does not make a business. Engagement is not the thing that builds a business. People are watching videos, people, people are engage excuse me, consuming your content even when they're not engaging. 08:47 You're planting seeds. Continue to plant your seeds and be consistent But not in the way that we've been conditioned to think Consistency. 09:00 I'm not talking about you have to show up every single day and be on Instagram stories every day and post 1, 2, 3 times a day. 09:07 Don't miss a beat on Instagram. You have to be present. Creating content like a machine, not that kind of consistency. 09:14 I'm talking about the longevity. Consistency is in the longevity. How long are you gonna stay in the game? It's the long run. 09:24 This is not a short run. Every day I have to show up. It's not that it's even after five seven, as long as my heart is in this business, then I continue to show up when I want to. 09:36 That's consistency. Even if you need to get a bridge job, even if this business doesn't yet cover all of your financial expenses. 09:47 Notice I include the word yet quite a bit because I think it's important we're speaking truth over our business. And if you don't include the word yet, that could get a little tricky. 09:58 So if your birth business is not yet supporting your financial expenses, get a bridge job. I call it a bridge job because it bridges from where you are now to what you desire and there is nothing wrong with it. 10:12 And it doesn't mean you're not consistent. You don't have to post daily to be consistent, right? So even if you need to get that bridge job and then work efficiently, that is another one of the things that I've recognized about myself is I am able to break things down as simple as possible and do them efficiently. 10:35 And that helps me move the needle forward for my life and my business and for my clients. So when you approach these projects and things you're building and things you're working on, how can you make it a little easier and more efficient? 10:49 Another thing I thought of because of course I am this is the strategy piece, the strategy tip for you as you're building your business, create assets, continue to create assets that can generate passive income. 11:03 And so what I mean by that is when you create something in your business that you own and that you can continue to sell over and over and over again, even if it's an $11 item, it might sell all of 2023, it might sell two months of 2024, but it's an asset that can you build it and create it one time and you can continue to sell it for as long as you want. 11:29 And when you do it that way, that's very efficient, but it also creates a lower price point opportunity for people who need it the most. 11:38 It meets them where they're at. An example is my online birth course. It's pretty low priced relative to like a live in person or a one-on-one birth class. 11:50 And that's because it's a passive self-paced course. I created it once and so I'm able to offer it at a lower price point to meet people where they're at. 12:02 If people don't have a budget for a private higher end one-on-one class, but they need the education, your passive income assets might be able to fill that gap for them. 12:18 Okay? So that was my little tibit on strategy. And then on a personal level for you and in inside of your business, commit to evolution and growth. 12:29 Whether that's continuing education in the field, so continuing education in birth or in some other category within the birth industry or even branching out if you feel called to do that. 12:42 Because branching out doesn't mean that you're moving away from the birth industry if unless, unless that's what you desire. If you wanna branch out and do more things, do more things. 12:52 If you have a heart for this industry, I don't think that that ever really goes away altogether. Even if you went on to do something completely different, I'd imagine that there's still a way that you can evolve and grow and contri continue contributing to the birth industry, right? 13:09 So even though I'm not doing any work with pregnant people anymore, other than the free stuff that I have on my website and my passive birth courses, the work that I do now, I can continue to donate to organizations in the birth industry and continue to give back and help while I'm evolving and growing. 13:30 Keep working on you because who you are becoming along this journey is super important. Take an online business class, download an ebook, but whatever you do, just commit to that constant growth and evolution, even if it's at a snails pace. 13:54 And remember, we're here for the long run. The long run of your choice, truly you can choose the more comfortable route. 14:01 You can choose to stay in corporate and that kind of thing. If that's your choice, that is okay. There's nothing wrong with that, that may feel more comfortable and secure for you. 14:10 Or if you are lit up by so much fire and passion that you just can't do that and that's gonna be your bridge job. 14:18 But your passion and your heart and your soul is in something to do with the birth industry. Pick the uncomfortable route for the long run. 14:26 Are you comfortable being uncomfortable forever? I don't think that there's a point in any entrepreneur's journey where you're comfortable. I think based on entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs that I've met over the years, cuz I've been dabbling in entrepreneurship since I was a child, right? 14:45 I had some time in corporate, but I had little side things, right? And I've like a full-time, I guess you could say not no other industries, not necessarily full-time hours, but I haven't worked in another industry in five years except in my own business. 15:01 And I have yet to feel comfortable. The discomfort just looks different as you move through different levels. Are you willing to do that for the long run or would you feel better with a perceived comfort of a secure nine to five? 15:22 Neither is better or worse, incorrect or correct. It's just what's right for you, what's correct for you. And honestly, when I thought about it, it was kind of like preparing for birth. 15:32 We know that preparing for a natural birth, meaning no pain management meds is gonna be uncomfortable. Even the people who say like, you know, it's blissful and it's orgasmic. 15:43 I believe that. And there's probably still moments where it's a little bit uncomfortable. You know, I maybe the discomfort isn't physical. 15:50 Maybe sometimes the discomfort is like the emotional piece, but there's some discomfort, right? And we, I don't believe that any of us go into birth without any fear and without any discomfort there's something going on. 16:04 I think that we just move through regardless, we carry our discomfort and our fear like the bad asses that we are right into the birth room, wherever it is, and walk through that fire anyway because that's what we do. 16:17 Whether it's at the hospital or on the bedroom floor or I saw somebody birthing in the ocean on Instagram recently and people do it. 16:25 There's parts of the world where people birth in the ocean freaking cool. Like she's birthing a mermaid, right? I was like, Oh my god, that's amazing. 16:34 So can you take the template that you use in preparing for your births of carrying discomfort and carrying your fears and doing the things anyway? 16:47 Can you use that template and apply it to your business? I hope this landed didn't land. Was it awesome? What were your takeaways? 17:02 Please talk to me. My dms are open on Instagram. I'd love to hear from you. It really like lights me up on another level that it's hard to explain. 17:11 So please don't feel like you can't DM me. I would love it. Screenshot it, Spread the word honestly, because I feel like I have a relatively small community in the online space and there are way more birth professionals than there are in my community. 17:25 So let them know. Share this episode with all of your peers and all the groups that you're in with everybody on Instagram if you like it, if it landed, and it's information that people need to help bringing this business into Candyland. 17:42 Have a great week, friends, and I will talk to you next week.