94. The Real Math Behind a Six-Figure Doula Business

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Transcript

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We are not talking about hustle yourself to the ground. We are talking about building a birth business that you actually like being in. One that does not burn you out in two years and have you questioning if this is something that you're even going to bother continuing. Not passive income. Like not make money while you sleep. Oh, and if you are here today to learn how to make like 10 grand while you are laying down in your bed with your head on your pillow dreaming, turn it off. Turn this episode off right now. Because I'm telling you right now, before you invest, that is not this. Welcome to the Six Figure Doula podcast. This is where confidence becomes currency. If you're a birth worker who's ready to stop overthinking, stop undercharging, and start leading like you mean it, then you're not here by accident. Every week we talk sales without the ick, money without shame, and building a business that actually holds you and your clients. Welcome home, Doula. We're back. Happy Tuesday, my loves. Before we get into today's conversation, I've got to take a quick pause because the amount of love that I received after last week's episode. Ugh, I knew it would it would be hard to get through this. The emails, the Instagram DMs, the voice notes, the phone calls from colleagues and clients, women I've never met, followers, wanting me to know that I'm not alone. I felt that. And I need you to know it meant more than I can even put into words. And it takes a lot for me to be at a loss of words, as you know. And I think that the reason it hit me so deeply is because this has not always been my experience. Like I want to let you in on something that I have talked about in the past, but if you're new here, you might have no idea. So in high school, I was very popular. Like I was school president, I was very involved, I was known, but I was rarely chosen. Like to give you context, I was not the girl that got the phone call to hang out on the weekends. I wasn't the one in the group chat. And I remember on many a Friday night sitting at home with this aching feeling of like, why not me? And I carried that into adulthood, into the relationship that I was in for a really long time that was extremely toxic and that moved into marriage. And that marriage slowly chipped away at who I really was, and it made me a quieter person and it made me smaller. And we're not even getting into like the physical uh shrinking that also went down. Um, and it made me second guess a lot. And then I literally started over and rebuilt from the ground up. I found my soulmate, I walked back into the dance studio, I started to reconnect with myself like one brick at a time. It wasn't easy. And then I found birth work, and I cannot describe it as anything other than feeling like I was coming home. So before we get into the juicy, tangible, beautiful reality about building a six-figure dual of business, and yes, I said reality, okay. Before we talk about strategy and structure, I just have to say thank you for taking me in, for taking me in as I am, like the unfiltered Lisa, the super loud one, the emotional one, the real one. Because for the very first time in my life, I don't feel like I have to earn my place. I know I belong here. And that has healed some wounds that I didn't even realize I was still carrying. And I wanted to share that for a moment because it does tie. It ties directly into today's conversation about building a business and becoming a six-figure doula. It is not strategy alone. Okay, it is identity. It is who you become when you finally step into this work fully. And for so many of us, this work doesn't just build a business, it rebuilds us too. So I want to say first and foremost, that when I talk about becoming a six-figure doula, I absolutely 100% freaking do not mean taking on six births a month at$1,500 in each every single month. I really want you to hear that. I need you to hear that because that's what so many doulas think that the path is. Think that the only path is to stretch yourself to the point of burnout. More clients may equal more money, but technically, your body is not going to allow that for a very long time. Your nervous system absolutely does not like that math. Okay. Your life, your personal life, your motherhood, it doesn't work. Six births a month every single month means a ton of overlapping due dates. It means being on call nonstop. It means missing dinners and sleep and time with your kids to the point where you start to resent the business. It means showing up exhausted, all right? It means a lot of things that we want to avoid. It means, you know, missing some of the most important days of someone's life. And that is not success. That is a version of survival mode that we call a business. All right. It's not sustainable. So, for the purposes of today, we are not talking about hustle yourself to the ground. We are talking about building a birth business that you actually like being in, one that does not burn you out in two years and have you questioning if this is something that you're even going to bother continuing and make you question why you even started and feeling like you have to start over. We don't want any of this. So let's start by picturing a pyramid. So, not a funnel, okay? Not passive income. Like, not make money while you sleep. A pyramid. Oh, and if you are here today to learn how to make like 10 grand while you are laying down in your bed with your head on your pillow dreaming, turn it off. Turn this episode off right now. Because I'm telling you right now, before you invest, that is not this. This is built on a structure, on layers, and on intention. So at the very bottom of the period, the chunkiest, heaviest bulk of what we've got is your in-person doula work. That is your foundation. And for most of us, this is where the bulk of our income is going to come from, at least in the beginning. All right, so we're gonna circle back to that. And I want to just point out that this is where I did do things very differently, like very early on. So once I really got some traction in my personal in-person doula business and I was making six figures, I do need to point out that I was charging more than almost everyone in my area. I was not taking six births per month. I was capping myself at two to three. And I want to circle back to that. I know there's nuance here, right? So everybody's formula is going to look different. There are lots of variables that are going to play into how you are doing this math for yourself, okay? But it's really important that we stop and think that you do not just need more clients, okay? You need to also be thinking, how do I make each client more valuable and more aligned so that I can make an even bigger income? So instead of like$1,200 here and$1,500 over here, I built a premium offer. It was one strong, clear signature package with strong positioning and very high touch support. So my clients were paying anywhere from$2,500 to$3,500 and sometimes even more. And I promise you when I say that those women were feeling like it was the easiest yes for them. So let's name the identity shift that may need to happen if you're sitting here saying, I could never charge those kinds of numbers. You need to make a shift. You need to be open to a shift. You are not a helper waiting and waiting to be chosen. You are a leader and you are guiding a woman through one of the absolute biggest, most profound experiences of her entire life. Do not downplay your support. So we will come back to that, but first I want to talk about this notion of expanding each client and finding more depth. So let's talk about the next layer, going deeper with the same client. And this is where a lot of us leave money and impact on the table. So to give you an idea of what I mean, you sign the client and then you deliver the package that you talked about on that initial consultation, right? Simple enough, makes sense. You're nodding your head. Where's the expansion though? Where's the additional support options? Where are the deeper touch points? So maybe this looks like a birth prep intensive for her and her partner that you don't talk about until after you've had a prenatal and been able to understand more deeply their needs and their desires, right? Maybe this is additional prenatal sessions with a very strong streamlined structure and a very, very dialed-in benefit or outcome. Maybe it is a postpartum planning call. Maybe it's extended support after the baby arrives. So I'm not talking about random add-ons. I'm talking about intentional, aligned support that 100% supports your approach, your unique method, and the needs, the wants, and the desires of this particular family. So I had many clients along my journey who wanted more support, but no one had ever offered it to them before. So when I did, they said yes. So again, coming back to that identity, you need to stop being someone who just fulfills a package and you need to become someone who holds a full transformation and allows for space within that evolution. So let's talk about yet another layer, another stage of that pyramid, and that is community. This is where women want to stay connected to you before, during, after working with them. This is where your income can start to really stabilize, right? MRR, monthly returning revenue. So this could look like a monthly pregnancy circle. This could look like a postpartum support space where babies are always welcome. This could be a membership where moms can ask questions, stay close to you, stay supported, have support on their calendar that they can look forward to. Because now you're not just starting from zero every single month. You have women in your world who already trust you, okay, who've built that relationship. They who know you, who know what you stand for. They're already halfway to a yes. So now the pressure of constantly nonstop chasing new cold leads starts to release. There's relief because now it's more about leading the rooms that you've already built and finding balance. There is such power on forming a solid foundation and then layering piece by piece and making sure that we are including ways to nurture, including ways to stay connected, including ways to go deeper. And now we can build into events, workshops. We can host a local event with a chiropractor or a midwife, run a couple's birth preparation night, do a workshop specifically on induction or fear release, because women do not buy from complete strangers. They buy from women who they have felt, and events let them feel you and it speeds up that trust. This is where you shine. This is where you bring your personality and your gifts and your creativity. So as we approach that peak and we are continuing to layer on top of solid ground, I want you to consider and stretch yourself at the thought of offering mentorship, coaching, really stepping into that leadership role. I also want to point out that I really do not care if you prefer a pyramid that stands on its head and the peak is at the bottom. Like that is not what I want you to get hung up on right now. What I want you to understand is that when you try to scale too soon, okay, when you don't have consistent income or a proven process or results to stand on, zero testimonials, it's really hard to just become a leader by deciding that you are one, right? You become a leader by building something that works. And this is how you can build a six-figure dual of business, not by doing more, not by doing it all at once, but by building depth and structure and connection and strategy. You were never meant to hit six figures by maxing out your body. You were meant to build something that actually supports you and your family, something that lights you up layer by layer. And if you're thinking to yourself, I see it, I can envision the pyramid, but I have no idea where exactly I'm at or where I'm going or whether or not I'm actually on solid footing. And if that is the case, then it is very clear you need some clarity. So I want to invite you to take my free doula bottleneck assessment. This is for doulas who are stuck under$10,000 months. And what it'll do is it will help diagnose exactly which layer you are stuck in. And then it'll tell you what to fix first. So you can click that, find it in the show notes, or hop on over to the Lisa V, that's V-E-E.com slash assessment. I can't even tell you how many doulas have reached out to me and said this was my massive pivot point. It is time for your doula business shift. So take the assessment, I promise you won't regret it, and then hit me up on Instagram and let me know if you agree with your results. I'll catch you on the next one.