Speaker 1: (00:09)
You're listening to, Doula’s going digital, a podcast about taking your important doula work online to reach more people. I'm your host, Nicole joy, digital doula. I've helped thousands of women learn better, more supportive ways to birth everybody. And welcome back. So this week I wanted to share a story with you that is kind of a behind the scenes. Look at something in my business that I think you'll appreciate because oftentimes my clients like to hear, you know, for me to pull the curtain back. So there's something I want to share before I get into it. Let me say that one of the big themes that we heard and phrases that many people in the birth world, many doula business owners, and really for entrepreneurs and other industries as well that we heard last year was pivot the importance of pivoting, why it's so important to pivot and how to pivot in your business.

Speaker 1: (01:07)
And it reached a point where I was so tired of hearing the word pivot, even though I knew the value of doing that and making adjustments, right? So let me share this story about my own very first pivot in my business in 2021, the pivoting didn't end last year, sadly, if you got annoyed with it, but if you got comfortable with change and got comfortable with being uncomfortable, then we navigate pivoting very differently now than we probably did a year ago at this time, right? January of 2020, we may not have been quite as resilient, you know, as we are now. So if you're still standing and you're able to listen to this, Pat yourself on the back, you know, honor yourself, and you did this, you know, you made it, we're here and we're still being resilient and we're still doing the things. So let me, let me get into my story.

Speaker 1: (02:00)
So in the days leading up to the new year, I started thinking about planning for 2021. You like November ish, but in December, you know, during the holidays, when work ish was kind of quiet, my clients, usually they usually just spend a lot, a lot more time with family. So, you know, it's kind of quiet and the programs during that time, which is common. I spent some time thinking about my own plans, right? And I planned out my year. I had a planning session with my business coach. I put together timeframes timelines. You know, what do I want to do in Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4. I look at my, my number goals, whether they're monetary or other types of, you know, nonmonetary number goals. And then I worked the numbers a few different ways to help me with aligning with those number goals and see how I feel and really just get a good gist of what I'm going to be doing this year.

Speaker 1: (02:51)
What am I going to be talking about? What am I going to be launching? What are the things that I'm going to be selling? How am I going to be helping people? And I left room for little mystery. That's something I started doing, I think in 2018, going into 2019 and I left room for a little mystery. So I did it again last year and what I didn't realize. So it's really funny because in 2019, the mystery didn't really start to pick up until fourth quarter in 2021. What I didn't realize was that 17 days into 2021, I'd be adjusting my plans already and changing my plans in a big way. And I'm not usually somebody who is like that. I make plans and I'm usually pretty like hardcore. I like planning my vacations. I like planning the things we're going to do when we're on vacation.

Speaker 1: (03:41)
I like having my planners. I like writing checklists and writing down what we're getting at the grocery store and checking them off. I like having plans. And so learning how to be, how to adjust in a way that really suits me and that really suits my community has been, has had a profound impact on my business and how I get to help. So I'm going to share this story with you of what changed. And then I'm going to kind of guide you through how you might be able to do stuff like this in your business. Cause I think I hope it's helpful. Okay. So backing up the last couple of months, you've probably heard me talking a ton about the mastermind because I've been in mastermind promo period, right? So I've been on lots of discovery calls with potential clients. So what that looks like is you've heard me say, apply for the mastermind.

Speaker 1: (04:26)
We schedule your free 30 minute strategy session. You tell me about your business goals. I'll see how I can best help. Right. And I mean, that last part, we'll see how I can best help. Right? And so I've had a lot of these, this is what they're called discovery calls over the last couple of months for people that were applying for the one 21 start date, which was at the time this airs it'll have been last week. But the thing was, my gut told me that how I could best help. Many of those people was actually not the mastermind right now. It actually wasn't the next right step for them. And I told them that because I don't BS, I don't, I shoot straight. And if the mastermind isn't right for you at all, I tell you that. And if it is a good fit, but just not right now, I'll be honest with you there too.

Speaker 1: (05:15)
And what I felt during many of these discovery calls with it was that many people needed something different, the type of thing that's in the premier coaching center membership. Right? So either what I was finding was that they were either brand new to doula work like brand new doulas. They hadn't been trained yet or just fresh out of training. And they were just starting their doula businesses, or maybe they were newish to bringing their business online. So perhaps they had, you know, some doula training and some birth business stuff going on, but not as much of an online presence or, and they really wanted to grow their online presence and learn how to do that. So both of those categories wanted to do that, or they were actually perfectly suited for the mastermind. They just wanted to generate more income before moving into a higher level of private support, like the mastermind.

Speaker 1: (06:07)
So when I was on these calls, I kept thinking, Hey, this person needs tools. That person needs tools. And while the content and the premier coaching center membership is a bonus while you're in the mastermind. Right? So yeah, they would've gotten it anyways. But like I said, I said, you know, many of them needed to generate more income. They were new in their doula business, right? So they needed the tools right now now to get to the next level. And they needed courses. My courses, all of my course modules that are available in the membership, the video tutorials, the samples, the templates, the things that will help them put these pieces together in their own time at home and at a price point that meets them where they're at, right. And in the membership, plus they also get small group support. There's a peer support group on Facebook that I pop into pretty regularly and, and answer things.

Speaker 1: (06:59)
And also there's monthly live stream Q and A's. But here's the thing. The membership wasn't scheduled to reopen until March, I've been launching the mastermind up until now. And the plan was to take a break and you know, not be in launch and open the membership up again in March. So that would mean is that I'd be leaving everybody, hanging people who are starting to their business. They're looking to me for support. So if I'm truly asking myself, how can I best help you? It's not sitting here telling you, okay, what you have to wait. That's not very helpful. And so this is actually kind of a sales conversation as well. A sales lesson is my clients. You know, many of my clients, we have this conversation and they've heard the reference. I even wrote about it on Instagram, like a week ago, as at the time of this recording that people have some serious aversion to selling things.

Speaker 1: (07:51)
I don't want to be seen as salesy. I don't want to bother people. I don't want to be in their face. And the reference that I give a lot, the example that I share with my clients a lot, I'm going to share it here too. Is it never feels like selling. If you think about it like this, I bake really good chocolate chip cookies. Like really freaking good chocolate chip cookies, you know, and you are hungry and you really like chocolate chip cookies. And you're looking to buy a cookie. I'm not going to let you have the cookie until March. That doesn't make any sense. I'm not sure the hound you, I'm not going to be in your inbox, like wander by the cookie. When I buy the cookie cookie, I want not going to do that. But I might say you can't buy the cookie till March says, who, why am I holding this?

Speaker 1: (08:35)
Like, why am I holding out on, you know, that doesn't make sense. Like I said, that, cause that was the original plan, but I'm in charge here. I'm the big girl here and I get to change the plans. It's okay. It doesn't hurt anything. It doesn't hurt anybody. And it actually would be of highest service. And so that's another thing that I, so this is kind of a sales conversation and, and yeah, this is kind of a sales training a little bit, I guess, built into this episode is when you think about it like that, when you think about how can I be highest and best service, it's letting people know that you have the best chocolate chip cookies around. You're just letting them know that it's there and you're making it available to them and you're letting them know what kind of ingredients you use and how they're going to feel after they eat the cookie.

Speaker 1: (09:16)
Is it going to satisfy them? Are they going to want another one? And you know, is it going to be the very best experience? Is it going to melt in their mouth? Like you're going to let them know all those things so that they can make a decision. It doesn't mean we're trying to convince them to buy cookies. If they're not, if they're an oatmeal raisin person, they're just not going to buy the cookie and that's okay. But at least you let them know everything they needed to know about this chocolate chip cookie so they can make the best decision. And that is exactly how I approach coming on sales calls, because that's what they are, is sales calls, their business strategy sessions. I lead with service. I coach, I want to hear about your business. Tell me what your plans are. And I really mean what I said.

Speaker 1: (09:54)
I'll say it again. We'll see how I can best help you. And the mastermind actually was not suited for many of the people who apply for all the reasons I shared. I really think that the membership was the next right step. And so I decided to open the premier coaching center membership right now instead. So I changed the open enrollment now instead of March, it's going to be right now. And here's the funny thing my instinct to change. My plan was confirmed because I didn't officially open it right away. As soon as I started to see this trend and getting feedback from people and noticing who's in my community, who's coming in, who's buying the, you know, the digital doulas, 20, 20, 21 content toolkit. I'm noticing this stuff and I'm, you know, seek, keeping an eye on where people are at what they need, how I can best help.

Speaker 1: (10:42)
And I felt my instinct was like, I think you need to reopen the membership. But then my brain got involved and was like, no, remember your plan, your plan is March. And then my gut was like, nah, you need to do that. And then the universe confirmed what my gut was telling me again. And again and again, in a series of events that one day maybe I'll do a completely separate podcast episode explaining what, what happened, but these are nudges and winks and confirmations from God, from the divine, from source, from the universe, whatever you look to for your divine inspiration, from your spirit guides and the nudges are there. If you're paying attention and I am now, it wasn't always this way, but now I am. And I'm sharing this business story. That feels also a little bit personal. Like I said, pulling back the, the screen to show you behind the scenes, because I want to show you what it looks like to trust your gut.

Speaker 1: (11:44)
You know, I don't always have all the answers. It's not always perfect. My 2021 planning calendar obviously got shaken up on day 17 and that's okay. This is how you run a business based on your intuition and strategy, because I still, I have a new strategy. You know, it's not that I completely drop all strategy and just all the way into flow, there has to be balanced for me because that's what feels really good. Good. And just because you wrote down plans, you know, business plans in December, or even, you know, in January, it doesn't mean that you can't make adjustments as you feel they're necessary and listen to your gut. That was the mystery, the wild card. Remember when I was explaining how I got ready for this year, I left a little space for mystery and this was it. This was the first piece of it was this change of plans.

Speaker 1: (12:39)
So now I have new plans and new space for any new inspiration or magic that comes along. There's other things that are whispering to me that when they fall into place, but right now that's what feels like is going to be the mystery. So it's not yet complete, but I will share as it is. So my suggestion to you and how you can apply this story and this message, bring it into your business is look at your offers, look at your packaging, the things that you're doing, how you run your business, how does it all feel to you? I think oftentimes, you know, most of, most of the time I'll say doula business trainings. I mean, there's kind of a, uh, one way that we're trained how to do this work. You know, like there are different philosophies, but generally a birth doula does a lot of similar things, you know, and a postpartum doula does a lot of similar things.

Speaker 1: (13:35)
Like I said, there are, we know there's differences, you know, training organization to training organization, but traditionally these jobs are one way. And how does that feel to you? What do you enjoy about it? What feels like it might need to change a little bit. And if you put yourself in that position of how can I be of best service? How can I best help you? What's your gut telling you about your offers and about the thing you do with your clients? You know what, what's your instinct telling you? The other example I want to break in here, what do we tell new parents? You know, we're guiding new parents through how to learn, how to listen to their own intuition, right? In Parenthood, we're teaching them that co-sleeping is not always this scary, dangerous thing that they see all over the media as being scary and awful and you know, whatever we're teaching them that sometimes it's this.

Speaker 1: (14:38)
Sometimes it's something else. Here's how people can do it safely. Listen to your intuition. What feels good to you? Are you going to, to breastfeed or chest feed or formula feed? What is your intuition? You not what everybody else is telling you to do, right? And when you hear recommendations from your doctor, that's helpful. Doctors are practicing medicine, get recommendations, right? Get opinions when you can. And if you need more, get more and then listen, inward, we're teaching new parents how to do this, right? How to parent, how to birth their own way, how to do post-partum their own way, how to mother and parent their own way. And you can do the same in your business, your in charge of your business. You get to change your programs. You get to adjust your offers. You get to change your business name. You get to raise your prices.

Speaker 1: (15:32)
Do you get to give things away for free? If you desire, you can have the audacity to teach a hundred percent virtually. If you like, you get to provide scholarships or sponsorships for things that you offer. When you want to, you get to change your plans, you get to decide who to hire for different things. You get to decide if that relationship is not working out, you get to decide who you do want to support and who you don't want to support. You get to pivot. And we've learned how to do that in the last, I don't know, 10 months, you get to change your terms of service, and here's a big one. You get to speak your truth. It's safe. It's safe to be you. I hope you've enjoyed this story. And I hope you take the time to assess your own business and to see if there's any places that make sense to make adjustments and to make changes so that it feels aligned with what you truly desire. And of course, if you were somebody that applied for the mastermind and we talked, or if we hadn't yet had a chance to talk, and we may be private message and talked about the membership, I have opened enrollment for a short window. So head to the link in the show notes. And if you have any questions as always feel free to reach out, have a beautiful week, everybody, and I will see you soon.

Speaker 1: (17:05)
Thank you so much for taking time out of your day and listening to this episode. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you found value in what I'm sharing here. And if you did, can you do me a little favor and go and rate and review this episode? I will share a link in the show notes so that it's really easy to rate and review this podcast. It would mean a lot to me as this is truly a passion project, have a beautiful day, and I will see you next week.