Lactation Business Coaching With Annie And Leah

Why do we feel the pressure to do it all? You hear the word hustle a lot in the entrepreneur space. But does the hustle actually help us as private practice lactation consultants?In this episode, we’re talking about the messages about hustle we’re hearing from business gurus and on social media and whether they’re helpful for having a healthy and thriving private practice.(Spoiler alert: we think naps might help us reach our goals, too.)“Let's not think about buying into some dream of a future that may never come true but how can I scale what I'm doing or manage what I'm doing right now so that I am building in that intentional rest because I only have right now. I don't have that future I just have right now.” In this episode, we will cover: The internal pressure to do it all (4:11) The curse of social media (11:38) The importance of releasing what is no longer serving you (17:37) What you can cultivate in your life to take some of the pressure off (20:43)  Like this episode? Want more?The LBC podcast is ALW

What does expanding your circle of care mean? What does it look it?Treating your practice as a business is not just good for you, but it’s good for the families you take care of. This includes finding support so the burden of nurturing your business is not solely on you.There’s no way to be a hundred percent independent in your business so building that foundation of support at the beginning of your business is important. The goal is to have a compassionate and sustainable private practice that takes care of you.In this episode, we are discussing how your circle of care has one center - your business and how to envision what your business needs.“When we feel taken care of, and when we are tangibly actually taken care of, we will have what it takes to take care of other people.” In this episode, we will cover: How nurturing our business actually nurtures our clients (3:06) Why self-care feels like another job (6:06) The importance of checking in with your business (14:12) The idea of treating your business lik

You are passionate about the clinical work you do but sometimes you can get so focused on your clients that you forget you need to nurture your business also. You didn’t become a lactation consultant because you wanted to be an entrepreneur - but here you are!We didn’t start out with a business mindset, both of us were just excited about the opportunity to help more families. It was a hard lesson to learn that we can’t just serve our clients, but that we also need to run a business.Treating your business and yourself as the business owner the same way you’d treat your clients means that your whole focus is on providing care. That energy builds and grows and radiates outward. You can’t care for someone else unless you are being cared for yourself. That’s where the circle of care comes in. Listen in as we discuss how to build and maintain a strong business so that you can bring your full-self to your clients’ care.“What I put into my business, my business is going to give back to me” In this episode, we will co

In this episode, we answer that age-old question: what did you wish you knew when you first started out?When you’ve just launched your practice, you don’t know what you don’t know. Every entrepreneur learns valuable lessons along the way, and it’s helpful to think of mistakes as opportunities to learn. We’re here to share what we wish we’d known when we started our journeys, what we implemented to solve the problems that came up along the way, and how our businesses have evolved. In this episode, we touch on three main areas that we feel are absolutely essential to building and growing your business. As always, our goal is to help you grow an amazing practice and make a living doing what you love!From operations to organization, from communicating your value to cutting the paper from your practice, from HIPAA-compliant digital options to keeping your consult bag ready for anything, you’ll learn some great time- and headache-saving tips that will help you streamline and optimize your practice from day one!“Lea

Many lactation consultants are used to working solo, and it can be hard to surrender certain aspects of your private practice to others. When you wear many hats, like most private practitioners, it can be hard to recognize when you need to delegate a task to someone else who has more time or expertise in the area. But if you’re spending too much energy on tasks that you’re not proficient in or passionate about and they take you away from the clinical work you love, it may be time to bring on people who can share the workload.Time is just as finite as money… and when you have more time for the things you’re passionate about, you might actually make more money! Finding support for clinical, administrative, or even personal tasks can free you up to focus on serving your clients and expanding your private practice to fit your goals.You can start by writing down your weekly and monthly tasks outside of your IBCLC responsibilities and then assessing which tasks might be a good fit for outsourcing. You can hire out

For IBCLCs, being able to do things faster and with less stress translates to a better job done. That’s why we’ve dedicated this entire episode to discussing life hacks designed to introduce more ease into your private practice.Through our time building and growing our private practices, we’ve identified a number of areas where we’ve been slowed down, distracted, disrupted, or ignored our physical needs… but we’ve also come up with simple daily solutions that keep us on track and working at our best (many of which take under five minutes). As an IBCLC, there are several key aspects where life hacks shine—from taking care of your body to managing your business logistics to nurturing your emotional and spiritual needs, there are small, powerful ways to get around the overwhelm while still making sure you tick off everything on your To-Do list.“I always like a good hack. As a busy mom and a business owner, hacks are where it’s at.” In this episode, we will cover: Life hacks for meeting your physical needs (05:35

What does it mean to be a small business owner and a compassionate lactation consultant? We got into this business because we love caring for breastfeeding mothers and their babies. But excellent clinical skills don’t always coincide with business and financial savvy. If you can relate, we’ve got you covered.Money can be a really personal and intimidating topic, and many of us grow up without learning how to talk about money or deal with our own personal finances, let alone business finances. But understanding your business numbers is vital to creating a sustainable, profitable private practice.In this episode of Lactation Business Coaching, we share our advice, tips, and experiences for creating a successful business and staying on top of your finances. From business expenses to liability insurance to tax planning and what it means to pay yourself a living wage, we’re diving in deep for this Financial Real Talk.“As a small business owner, you’re both the employer and the employee.” In this episode, we will c

How do you set your fees so that they’re fair and compassionate to your clients… without undervaluing your worth? Money is an uncomfortable topic for many people, especially women. And it can be difficult to ask for what your work is actually worth (or even realize your worth in the first place). But you’re not truly serving anyone when you set a low bar for your pricing. To run a business, you need to have money.When it comes to choosing a number for your pricing, nobody wants to be in a race to the bottom — including your clients! Undercharging not only prevents you from making the type of income that your work deserves, but it can hurt the profession as a whole… as well as your clients. Charging too little can lead to demotivation, resentment, and “calling it in” during your client visits. Your fees and revenue goals should challenge and motivate you to be the best lactation consultant you can be, and provide you with a living. It’s important to know your worth as a business owner and to represent that fai

The Lactation Business Coaching Deeper Dives feature experts from inside and outside of lactation sharing their wisdom, insight, and practical hands-on tips. Enjoy this free 10-minute sample with our June guest, Shelly Taft LPN, IBCLC, CBE, ISE.Shelly runs a busy practice just outside Boston, MA. She created and is the host of The Baby Pro Podcast and founder of The Baby Pro Bistro, a unique membership site for new and expecting parents. Shelly also crawls through mud under barb wire for fun and I bet she'll answer questions about that, too.The recording will be available a few days after the event. In this episode, we will cover: Balancing growing Baby Pro while juggling a busy client load + working in the hospital Shelly's strategy behind creating and repurposing social media content How she's using podcasting to reach families  Like this episode? Want more?The LBC podcast is ALWAYS free, thanks to contributions from supporters. Every contributed dollar counts and so do our contributors — as a thank-you gif

As a lactation consultant, you keep track of so many things on a daily, weekly, and even hourly basis. Client care, business operations, keeping up with social media, and staying current with your clinical training can become overwhelming… and sometimes important things can slip through the cracks, both in terms of your professional practice and your family life. Tasks you hate and projects you love can both pose challenges to productivity, but implementing the right productivity hacks can help you stay on track, prioritize effectively, and maintain a healthier work-life balance.Time blocking is a great way to focus on one task at a time while allowing yourself some mental rest within the structure, and it’s especially useful for content creation. Bullet journaling is a freeform way to keep up with tasks — and it can take whatever form or function works best for you.In this episode, we dig into these and other productivity techniques that allow us to keep organized, increase productivity, and get everything d

‘Sparking joy’ became a nationwide sensation after clutter consultant Marie Kondo’s show Tidying Up landed on Netflix in 2019. Her de-cluttering KonMari method is based on the idea that you should throw away anything that doesn’t bring you joy —and this method isn’t just effective for de-cluttering your home, but your private practice workflow as well!Are there aspects of your private practice that don’t bring you joy? Do they leave you feeling overwhelmed or burnt out? Are they taking up space that could create room for exciting new opportunities? Is there literal clutter in your office that distracting you from staying focused?It’s important to regularly take a moment to reflect on what we have and what we use in our private practice, whether that’s our tools, our software subscriptions, our systems, our commitments – even down to the language in our intake forms!If your plate or your consult bag is too full, you need to stop and consider what sparks joy… and what you should consider setting aside.“I’m ofte

Life is stressful enough. As you may know, life as a business owner is even more stressful.While many people think of self-care as spa days or long yoga classes, effective self-care doesn’t have to take up an entire afternoon or cost you any money. There are many small things that you can fit into your schedule each day to maintain a healthy balance and keep you calm and centered.This episode is all about reducing (and preventing) stress through easy-to-implement self-care hacks. We share our top tips and habits for stress reduction and prevention — we talk about how to set and maintain effective boundaries, the importance of honoring your energy levels, how to tap into what your mind and body truly need, and the vital role of your community in self-care.As a bonus, you’ll get a sneak preview of the topic of our upcoming Deeper Dive — see the link below to learn how to register.“I know that my mood and my energy and my sleep and everything is improved when I’m exercising.” In this episode, we will cover: Our

Small business owners are at especially high risk for burnout, as we often take on multiple roles and feel we need to be driving our businesses forward all the time. But constant productivity actually hurts us in the long run. When we reach the point of burnout, we no longer perform at our best, and it can take weeks (or longer!) to fully recover.Brandie Mitchell, RN, NC-BC is a Board Certified Nurse Coach specializing in holistic, personalized health coaching for women ready to reclaim their health from autoimmune disease, anxiety, depression, pain, insomnia, and fatigue. She also supports women during pregnancy and postpartum for a healthy and empowered transition into motherhood. Brandie empowers women and families to take ownership of their health, overcome anxiety and overwhelm, and move from where you are to where you want to be in your body, health, and life.Brandie looks to natural and energetic cycles as inspiration for creating a way of life that’s healthier, more productive, and more sustainable. O

“Organized” can mean a range of things. You could have everything in your office down to your pens organized by type, color, and function. You could have a perfectly organized filing system and a chaotic decorating scheme. Or you could have a gorgeously minimalist office aesthetic… and messy desk drawers. What’s important is that the systems and setups you put in place work for you. When organizing your office, you should have one major goal in mind: making it easier for you to do your very best work in that space.There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to organizing your home office. Depending on your space and budget, setting up your perfect home office may involve purchasing new organizational furniture or just thinking outside the box to optimize your current setup. In this episode, we explain how we’ve set up our own home offices – everything from the furniture we use to the way we handle incoming documents.“Outer order brings inner calm… I can totally sense that when I look around my workspace.” I

A skilled bookkeeper not only inputs your transactions, but can help you cut costs, improve cash flow, and unlock opportunities for growth.A bookkeeper with experience in your industry will know the regulations and standards that need to be followed and will actually be able to save you money at tax time. Your tax accountant will charge you a lot of money to fix inaccurate books – often more than it would cost to hire a part-time bookkeeper!Bookkeeper Joselyn Martinez is a self-proclaimed numbers nerd. Four years ago, she started her own company, Balance Financial Solutions, which is dedicated to supporting small businesses and helping them build financial success. She has expertise in private and public accounting and managed an acquisition that converted a private company to a public company. She earned her Masters of Accounting with the distinction of Summa Cum Laude and is an Adjunct Instructor for her alma mater. Her passion led her to open her own business so that she can help small businesses achieve t

While there are always parts of running a business that some people will love more than others, most people can agree on one thing: tax season is a pain.But it doesn’t need to be. There are things that you can do to make tax season run much more smoothly for your practice.From setting up systems and accounts to choosing your business structure, to dealing with financial complexity, this episode is a primer for getting your practice through tax time with fewer headaches. “How can I keep as much of my money as possible, in the most ethical way possible?” In this episode, we will cover: How to have a profit-first mindset (04:50) The importance of professional guidance when determining your business structure (06:00) How to access our monthly Deeper Dives, where we learn great tips from top experts… and each other (10:20) The difference between “business expenses” and “the cost of doing business” — and what it means for your practice (11:42) What separate accounts and credit cards do you need (18:00)   Links and

Behind every great lactation consultant is an incredible administrative assistant.Our guest for this episode is Amanda Sherwin, the owner of The LC's Concierge, a virtual administrative business that provides services dedicated to meeting the needs of lactation professionals working in private practice.Amanda used skills acquired through her past careers as an elementary school teacher and camp director to help her build her business. She was drawn into the lactation world through her decision to breastfeed her two beautiful children – a choice that she made the moment she discovered that she was pregnant.She took prenatal and birthing classes and bought books, but still found breastfeeding her firstborn to be incredibly challenging. Amanda reached out to Beth Myler at Mahala, who diagnosed her baby with posterior tongue tie. Within a week of being treated, Amanda’s daughter gained 12 ounces.When Beth decided to return to school for her nurse practitioner’s degree, she asked Amanda if she’d be interested in p

It takes a village to run a thriving practice and hiring an administrative assistant is a crucial step toward building the business of your dreams.Hiring a great admin pays off financially but also emotionally, as you’re able to focus on the tasks within your skillset. This helps you feel less drained and more fulfilled and allows you to provide better care to your clients.Leah has worked with admins for nearly seven years, and they have handled all aspects of her business apart from the clinical work, including invoicing, bookkeeping, and project management.Annie hired her admin when she started getting too many appointment requests to keep up with and realized that in order to be able to help new clients, she’d need to free up more time. Her admin handles incoming requests, intake forms, customer service, patient charts, and so much more.“Ever since I’ve been able to shift out of having to do some of that stuff, my energy level and my passion for my work has increased as well.”In this episode, we will cover

Like this episode? Want more?The LBC podcast is ALWAYS free, thanks to contributions from supporters. Every contributed dollar counts and so do our contributors — as a thank-you gift to our top-tier members, we offer monthly LIVE Deeper Dive sessions with experts and access to all previous Deeper Dive sessions — check out our upcoming Deeper Dives and become a member! All contributions count; join at one of our starter levels here!Show Notes: Launching Your Lactation Business (Bonus Rebroadcast) Turn downtime into marketing time with Leah’s Marketing Tip Starting a private practice as a lactation consultant is hard! But you can do this I hear you love being a breastfeeding volunteer! That’s awesome! Here’s how Leah make it work without impacting her private practice. Not feeling the volunteer vibe anymore? Annie shares how she came to the difficult decision to retire from her beloved volunteer work. Why you shouldn’t just put yourself out there and hope for the best. Your future self will be much happier if y

This episode is the second installment of our Business-Related Goals podcast exploration. In Episode 45: Setting Business-Related Goals, we unpacked the ways in which we can use the SMART goal setting strategy to create the light at the end of the tunnel. In this episode, we discuss the ways in which we build the tunnel to get to that light. Learn how Annie and Leah have used systematic thinking to break big goals into smaller, more palatable tasks and how this strategy has helped them feel more successful, less overwhelmed, and has ultimately led to greater achievements in their private practices and beyond.This episode will help you learn how small, manageable tasks will help propel you forward and boost your confidence by evoking progress. You will also learn the different platforms out there that can help keep you moving along with your eyes on the prize. This systematic thinking has roots in Backward Design, an instructional design method educators use. It involves the creation of an instructional goal a