This Is My Vision

The top two priorities in my life are serving and supporting my family, and serving and supporting growing families in southern Arizona.

The choices I make day to day I measure against that vision. Does this serve my family? Will it serve/grow my business? It’s the compass by which I’ve weathered the past 20 years of doula work in southern Arizona. Any doula who is being honest will tell you that most doulas survive about 3-5 years in our industry and then they either burn out or move on. This work is hard for our families while we make the life of growing families more comfortable.

From the start, my vision for my business was to have work/life balance. To nurture my family just as much as I nurture my clients.

I also realized very early on that I couldn’t do it all. I’d always had a long-term vision to have a business where I could serve as a pregnancy, birth and parenting concierge for growing families in my community. I wanted to have the resources to provide the families I served from start to finish with the supportive, complementary care that they were seeking, all under one roof.

Childbirth education classes. Labor doula support. Postpartum doula support. Breastfeeding assistance and placenta encapsulation.

These services were the core of my vision. Early in my career, I became I breastfeeding counselor. Later I added childbirth educator. For many many years, postpartum care wasn’t a part of my wheelhouse. While exceedingly good at it, I didn’t enjoy it at the time. So I referred out. Placentas fascinate me. But I don’t like to touch raw chicken, so handling a placenta, even with gloves, was not something I wanted to do. So I referred out for that as well.

It took me almost 15 years but along the way I learned and I grew and eventually with the help of a dear friend who was a placenta encapsulator and postpartum doula, Tucson Doulas was born.

Growing a business that supports growing families through one of life’s most vulnerable experiences is no joke.

It’s is a huge responsibility. Referrals can’t be made casually. The individuals I refer my clients to reflect on me. The trust that clients have placed in me is a profoundly humbling honor, and I handle that trust with great respect.

Tucson Doulas was born so I could create a network of trusted birth professionals to serve my vision of supporting families.

To say that I have high standards would be an understatement.

But here’s the thing. The only person I compete against is myself. Can we serve more clients this month as compared to last? Are our clients happy? Do they reflect that they are satisfied with our care in their post-service evaluations? Can we improve in any way to take what we offer to the next level? Is there a new service we should consider adding to enhance what we have to offer our clients?

My competition is with myself.

To exceed the goals I have set for this business.

Worrying about what others are doing doesn’t serve my vision.

Newt Scamander said it best:

My philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice.”

The more birth professionals we have in our community, the more aware the community is of the services we offer.

Families will choose the person that is the right fit for them. Some will make that choice based on cost. Others will make it based on other factors like experience, how we make them feel in our presence, how reliable we are, how accessible we are. Each family has a unique set of needs that drive their decision.

Here at Tucson Doulas our training and certification have prepared us to serve any family that comes along.

We come to our clients a blank slate. Free from personal agendas. We help our clients express their hopes, dreams, and goals for their experience, and then together we set out to achieve them. We don’t need to refer to an outside source for services we offer. Every potential client is a match for us. We are fully equipped to provide the support they need when they need it most.

Twenty years down this road I am a trainer of labor doulas, postpartum & infant care doulas, childbirth educators and infant feeding specialists.

I also continue to support the growing families of southern Arizona along with my team of trained/certified, experienced and nonjudgmental birth professionals.