1 | Launching Your Lactation Business

Annie: I'm Annie.

Leah: And I'm Leah.

Annie: And we're so excited to launch our podcast, Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah.

Leah: Where we talk about the smart way to create a compassionate and professional private practice.

Annie: Well, hey Leah.

Leah: Hey Annie. How you doing today?

Annie: I'm good. How is it down there in Houston?

Leah: We're muggy today. Muggy and hot, but that's just what comes with our territory. How about you guys?

Annie: We are having glorious fall weather finally in New York City, and that means it's going to last for like another two and a half days and it's going to be hot again and then it's going to be cold, and that's just life up here in the Northeast.

Leah: Right, but have you guys gotten your fall colours yet? Are things starting to change?

Annie: Not yet. We won't get them until mid-October so it's still a little early for that.

Leah: Awesome.

Annie: So in today's episode we are going to talk about how to turn your passion for lactation into a sustainable business. Are you ready to talk about that today, Leah?

Leah: I'm super excited. I'm really passionate about this topic.

Annie: I know. Me too. I could talk about it all day long, which is probably why I wanted to start a podcast so I could talk about it all day long.

Leah: Yep, me too. I'm with you.

Annie: So before we launch into our topic for the day, Leah is going to give us a marketing tip. Leah, what do you have for us?

Leah: So one of the things that I notice a lot of people talking about in Facebook groups and some of the groups that are like starting your business is what to do when you have that ebb and flow where you have a really busy week and then the next week is really slow, or you get that last minute cancellation and you're frustrated because you drove all the way across town and now what are you going to do with your time? It's wasted. And so I like to turn that around. When you're a business owner you can make any moment a non-wasted moment by just carrying marketing supplies with you. I love face to face marketing. So face to face marketing means getting in front of the people that you want to refer to you. So in that moment that somebody cancelled your across-town, pull up on your phone how many paediatricians are around you and start walking in their offices and leaving business cards, talking to their referral nurses. It's a great way to use what you might expect to be wasted time as becoming super valuable time. And the next week you'll probably turn around and be super busy again because you're going to get new referrals.

Annie: I love that because there are paediatricians everywhere and their doors are open and you can just walk in. So I think it's a great strategy to fill that extra time. So thank you so much for that tip.

Leah: No problem. So on this episode we were going to talk about how have we approached a private practice and making it an actual business. And I think for both of us, we started in a volunteer capacity and I think both of us, we've talked about it before, really struggled with moving from that volunteer and we had to take some extra steps to move from that volunteer mode into I have a business, I'm doing this work that I used to do as a volunteer in a different capacity and I'm doing it for pay now.

Annie: Yes, I know. That's been really hard for me and I've now been in private practice for long enough where I'm like, yeah, I'm doing this and I still have that part of me that feels like I could be giving more. I used to give so much when I was a volunteer and sometimes I can even feel like, am I being selfish because I want to get paid for this instead of just staying as a volunteer. And that is just kind of a struggle that always is in the background. And for me, I got into this because I wanted to help breastfeeding families and I became a La Leche League leader and it was such a big part of my life and so formative for my parenting and how I mothered my children and friends that I made. And for me, I came to a point where I realized I had to retire from La Leche League and from being a leader because of the effect that it was having on my business, that it was too hard for me to switch gears. And that doesn't mean that I can't find ways to be a volunteer and to give back to my community and to hold onto those values, but I was not able to stay a leader and have a private practice and I was a leader for about nine years. So I was a leader for a good long time.

Leah: You gave your time for sure. Well I definitely think there is this mindset you really have to have about switching hats. Okay, I'm in my volunteer capacity right now and then switching into your, I am being paid for this work right now. And for a lot of people that's a big struggle because there's not a real clear line in the sand where that's going to be clear enough that everybody feels really comfortable with it. So I could see where retiring as a volunteer could be a way to get that clear boundary. I've continued on, but I've pulled back on what I do so I don't take help calls anymore and I just fill in for meetings so I'm not a regular meeting host, and that's worked really well because it's not something that I'm having to think about really, really frequently. And then I try to be active in other ways like around conference time and stuff like that. I'll try to give more time in that capacity. So it's not really direct mother to mother help, but some other background capacities. But it's definitely really hard. And one of the things, I think it's very important when you're moving is to take that volunteer mindset and then the boundary that you make is by establishing a real business. Nobody's going to take you as seriously in your business as you take yourself, so when you establish a real business and you act under that business, it's a little bit easier to have that separation from volunteer to I am a business owner and I'm running my business right now.

Annie: Yes, I think that's really very good point because you're two different people. You're a volunteer and you're a clinical professional and first of all La Leche League and other volunteer ... I know I can speak for La Leche league, but probably other volunteer organizations have this as well. La Leche League does not want you advertising your private practice when you are wearing your leader hat. When you're in a meeting, you're there to be a volunteer. You're there to be representing La Leche League, and on the same level when you have a private practice, you don't really want your clients thinking that, well, I saw her once and now I can call her anytime I want for follow-up because she's a volunteer and that means she has all the time in the world to talk to people about breastfeeding and you're like, no, as a volunteer, I have really carved out this certain way that I give back and that doesn't mean that now I have everything to give to everyone. So creating that clear distinction to say, when I'm a leader I do this. When I'm an IBCLC in my private practice, I do this and to really try not to have overlap there. So I think what you brought up about not doing volunteer helping calls anymore, I think that's a really important place where you can make that distinction between your volunteer role and your clinical role. Because as a clinician, the longer you do this work, the more you realize that everybody's situation is so complicated. And so that one simple question that you're like, well back when I was a baby leader, somebody will call up and say, my baby doesn't sleep all night. And I'm like, Oh yeah, babies are like that and just give in to it, surrender, all of those great, beautiful things that have their place, especially within the context of a mother-to-mother support group, or even just when you want that person on the phone, but you are going to find that the longer you do this work, the harder it's going to be for you to turn off that clinical part to say, why is that baby waking up? What is going on?

Leah: Right. You are going to have 10 questions. 10 questions that follow 10 more questions.

Annie: Then all of a sudden you've been on the phone with her for an hour.

Leah: Oh-oh! Step away from the mini consult.

Annie: As the books would say, step away from the mini consult. And so that's really the danger, and so just say, you know what? This is not a safe way for me to be a volunteer. This actually puts me at risk of spending too much time on the phone, which I don't want to do, possibly giving someone not good recommendations because I'm either overthinking it or not thinking about it enough. But leading those in-person meetings, facilitating a parent support group as a volunteer is a beautiful way to give back to your community that isn't going to impact the clinical side of your practice and in fact can add a lot to it where you just get to go be with people and you'll get so much from it too.

Leah: Yes, and I think your point with that with leading the meetings is much easier than the one-on-one because as a La Leche League leader, you are trying to promote peer-to-peer support and encourage talking amongst the moms who has gone through this. Do you have things to share about that? And so it takes all the pressure off of you answering the questions, you being the one helping this mom figure it out. So I think that was always easier for me to wear just my leader hat in that situation cause I felt like more of a facilitator than the helper.

Annie: Definitely. And I also love what you said about stepping up at conference time and a lot of these volunteer organizations, sometimes they have plenty of people that are willing to lead the meetings, take the phone calls, be those on the ground breastfeeding supporters. And where these organizations start to really struggle is in the management side of things. People who are actually providing support to the volunteers. And I know at least from my time in La Leche League of New York, there were always more jobs to do there. We could always use more help and I had served on that as a district advisor, which is one of the leader support roles and we were always like, Oh, we'd be just so great if we had more people that wanted to serve in these capacities, and that really does give so much to the breastfeeding world. Yes, it might not be direct contact with a family, but you're providing critical support to an organization that is doing so much when you believe in that organization. That background, behind-the-scenes work really does make a difference and that can be a great way to make that separation.

Leah: Absolutely. I am 100% agreement with that.

Annie: So now that we've kind of decided okay, we've got to separate between our business and our volunteering and we just spent a lot of time talking about all the ways we can volunteer, let's talk about how we can make this a business. So what does that even mean? Having a lactation business?

Leah: Right. I would say with any business, and this is one area that I think people moving into this might not have a business background, and with any business you're going to have kind of a structure, a foundation under you that includes your financial aspects, your legal aspects, your policy and procedures. It's this full encompassing foundation for the actual work you're going to go out and do, day in and day out, and that looks the same across many industries. I know here in Texas, and I think this is around. There’s the Small Business Association and if you are not a business person, it's great to take the classes through them because they tell you how to lay this generic foundation. And I think that really helps you also, you know we were talking about switching gears, like okay, I'm a real business now. I'm taking myself seriously. I'm setting this all up to have this really healthy foundation so I can go out and do my work day in and day out.

Annie: Yeah, I absolutely agree. And in my family, my husband is a small business owner and my father was a small business owner. So I was really raised in this and have lived my whole life in this world where you are living by your wits and that what you create is what you have, and I've barely had a real job in my life. I've always freelanced. I've always tried to make things and create opportunities and went into private practice. I really was able to draw on a lot of that experience of saying, okay, but I need to have certain things in place. I need to, first of all, know how I'm going to do this so I'm not just going to jump in and do it. I'm going to make sure that I know what I'm going to do. So this was back in 2011 when I passed the exam. So I went and I bought the books and I bought the charting templates and I sat down and I actually spent about six to eight months after I got my letter that I passed the exam before I saw my first client, because I just felt like I just spent all this time studying for this exam and learning all this clinical stuff and all these factual things, but I actually don't know much about what I'm actually supposed to do when I go to this woman's house. What is she expecting from me? And so I don't regret that I took it slowly and I don't think I would've had the capacity to do any of that prep work before taking the exam. My brain was all full of the exam.

Leah: Well, let me tell you how I did it. So when I started my business, I had started it with a partner and we had studied together for the exam. So we met on a real tight schedule every week. We met two or three times a week to study for the exam and we decided to just take a leap of faith, and the day we took the exam, we kept our study schedule, and for those next three months we still met and we worked on our business and we created all the foundation.

Annie: Oh wow!

Leah: And we were just going to assume we passed this. It was a real leap of faith. Okay, as much as we studied for it, there's got to be no way that we failed this so we're just gonna assume that we passed it. So literally we saw our first client the day after we got our results back.

Annie: I love that.

Leah: But it was with a completely established business. Every legal document had been filed with the state and signed and everything was done prior to seeing it. So it was a neat way to do it because we kept up that momentum and the excitement from getting to take the exam and then moving right into the business establishment.

Annie: I think you could do that even without having a study partner. I love that you guys motivated each other and you had somebody to work with, but I think even somebody that's studying for the exam on their own could copy that and say, okay, well I carved out this time to study for the exam and now that I passed the exam, I don't necessarily get that time back. I would recommend taking a couple of days after you take the exam and think about your business, but keep those dates with yourself. Make that commitment. You worked really hard to study for this exam. You probably put a lot into it in terms of time and made sacrifices and that's gonna be something that's going to be required of you going forward. There's going to be time and there's going to be sacrifices that are not necessarily monetized in that, okay, I saw a client. I was there for two hours. She gave me this money. But outside of that two hours is however many hours you spent on your business, preparing to see her continuing education, all that business structure that you were talking about, getting all of your legal ducks in order, working on your website, and you really have to think about all of this kind of time that is going to be asked of you. So start right away and assume that you're going to need to give time in order to make this happen and you're not going to be on the clock. You're going to be on your own clock. So you've got to make that available to yourself.

Leah: Yeah. And it's a huge time commitment but you really want to. You know we were talking about how important this kind of foundation is, and you know a lot of these things are hard to change later on. So you really want to have it all set up the way you want to have it set up for the entire time you're going to be working in this business. It's so important to take the time to make sure you plan it out well, make sure you have the legal, the financial, all of those things laid out really, really well right from the get go.

Annie: Definitely because it's so much easier to just keep doing the same thing than to change how you're doing something and don't do that to yourself. So future Leah can get a present from past Leah because past Leah put a firm foundation in place. So then a year and a half down the road, future Leah's just so happy that past Leah made this so easy for me right now.

Leah: I love it. That is a great way to think of it for sure, because it really is a gift to the success of your business long term. I see so many people popping up trying to start a business, and in their mind's eye, it's like, okay, I'm just going to go run on Facebook real quick and let everybody know. I can see all your friends that have babies so call me and they have done nothing else. And then they get in it and they're like, Oh my gosh, I have to be HIPAA compliant. I had no idea. Oh my gosh, I have to register an EIN to be able to do these other things. I had no idea and it's panic mode at that point, which is really going to change how you're going to interact and be able to do your job that you worked so hard to establish for yourself. So I love that - that thought of giving yourself a gift. It truly is, and you're going to make your business more successful by taking this time.

Annie: Definitely. And if you're working with a mentor under Pathway 3 to get your hours to qualify for the exam, these are things you're going to be wanting to talk with your mentor about, and if your mentor is not someone who's in private practice, I would recommend finding someone who is. And if you pass the exam and you're thinking, I actually never talked to anybody who was in private practice and I don't know what Annie and Leah are talking about, then jump on the Facebook because we've got a lot of groups where people want to talk about private practice and people want to help you and connect locally and get answers to those questions and even find out what questions you have. And the unfortunate truth about all of this is that you're going to have to spend some money before your business is actually making money and that is a bitter pill to swallow.

Leah: Yes, it really is. I think it's so hard to think about what if I don't even make money and I'm going to dump in $1,000 or $500 and I'm not even sure if this is going to take off or be successful. It really is a hard investment, but every company ever starts with investors. Rarely are you going to get a company off the ground with zero money going into it.

Annie: I think that's a great way to look at it, to call yourself an investor in your own business rather than thinking of it as money that you have to spend, as opposed to money that you're gonna spend on something else for your life. But to say, I am making a financial investment in my business by spending money on these essential things that I need to make sure that it's running correctly, that's going to make you take it seriously. And there are certain things that I would consider absolutely essential, and one is legal counsel. That might be that you do your incorporation through a reputable online service. There's nothing wrong with that. There's no shame in that because they are lawyers, the good ones. They are actual lawyers, but nothing really can substitute for having a relationship with an actual attorney who can advise you on the specifics of your situation, because just like in breastfeeding, it might be right for 50 people and really not be right at all for you, and nobody can tell you that except for someone who is licensed to practice law. The same thing goes for these financial structures that you're looking into. Do I incorporate? Do I not incorporate? The answer is nobody can tell you that, but a CPA can give you advice on that. Talk to a bookkeeper because you have to know the specifics of your tax situation, the taxes for your country, for your state, for your province, wherever you are. It's going to be different for every single one of you. You are never going to regret the money that you spent talking to a legal or a financial professional

Leah: And the peace of mind. Like I always in the moment I'm like, oh, this is so expensive, but when I get off that phone call or I finish the meeting and I have that peace of mind that I know I'm doing the right thing for my business, I know I'm following the right steps, good counsel. It's just such a relief to have that that you can just set that thought process aside and be like, okay, that part's taken care of. I have peace of mind. Next thing, let's go.

Annie: Yes, and then you're going to start looking at all of the things that maybe you would want to buy for your business and devices and equipment and researching what other people have in their consult bags. Here's where I would actually recommend a little caution. Don't go shopping crazy on Amazon to start your private practice and I did this. I made this mistake. I was like, I need breast pump flanges and I need nipple shields and I want all different kinds of this and that and the other, and I want fancy notepads. I don't know, all this stuff. I just went there and honestly in a consult the things that I use the most are my exam gloves, my latex-free exam gloves, scale and pretty much the other things that are there, at least for my clientele, they can get them. If they need a nipple shield, they can buy it. If they need different size flanges, it's not hard for them to get it, but I am in New York City where you really can get everything at any time of the day or night, but with internet delivery, it's just not that hard to find these supplies and source them. When you're just starting out, don't feel like you need to make a financial investment in things that you might end up giving away, or if you sell them and you live in the US, you have to then pay sales tax to the government. Don't do it!

Leah: It is such a pain. Oh my gosh, we made this mistake as well. We did the whole Medella contract and spent $1,500 on products and literally to this day, I guess I've been in business seven years, I still have some of that early product. I cannot even give it away and I thought it was going to be so amazing to have all this with me. And a lot of times, especially if moms are birthing in the hospital, they get so much stuff when they leave that 95% of the time, if we might need a nipple shield, somebody has their own thrown at them in the hospital, or all the pump flange parts and that kind of thing. And yes, we might need special sizes and stuff, but again, I'm in an area as well that it's so easy to get them or Amazon Prime it and overnight it to you. So I would a hundred percent agree. Do not go spend a lot of money. Nice gloves are worth their weight in gold.

Annie: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Leah: It's my favorite thing in my consult bag.

Annie: And there are some things that you're going to, maybe later you might say, Oh, I'm actually really interested in doing pump fittings. And then you're saying, Oh, I have a plan for my business. I have a way that I want to expand. Again, that's going to require an investment, but you're not just buying everything and hoping it works out, so be strategic about it because there might be a time in your life where you say, yes, I do want to invest in these things, but you know why you're doing it and you know exactly what you're going to use them for and you've thought it through and you're seeing how it's going to add value to your private practice.

Leah: Right. And when you're making that investment of time we were talking about in establishing your business, something that I do is I have kind of business days. I have an assistant, so it's her and I am meeting together and we talk through what's coming up? What things might we want to look into? Let's reflect on something that we're seeing a pattern of. So it might be you've been in business for three months and you do notice every time you need a 21 millimetre Medella flange, it's super hard to find in your town. It's not at Target or you have an area that is harder to get it shipped to you, then it might be worth it to go ahead and stock those. But having that reflection time I think is super important. We do it monthly and looking back and then looking ahead so what things have not gone so well and what things do we think we could brainstorm ideas on shifting them or things like this, like I want to expand pump flange fittings or those kinds of things, and then we look forward to what's coming up? What do we need to prepare for? I think this is a way to take that mindset of I'm running a business seriously and even if you're on your own, I'm going to sit down with myself and I'm going to do this past and then present then future focused thinking through brainstorming. I think it's a really great investment of your time in your business.

Annie: You are way more organized than me cause here is what happens to me is I go to a conference, either in person or I watch one online, and I hear something cool that somebody is doing and then I say I'm going to do that too. That would be amazing and that's how I end up with things I don't use it. Even now, even after I just said, don't do that, I still do it.

Leah: I know.

Annie: Bright, shiny things. I like to try things. I want to have everything and so I really could benefit. I'm going to listen to what you've said about having a regular check in to evaluate exactly what's going on. I don't have an assistant, but I could do that for myself. I don't need an assistant. It would be nice. I mean, I like people, so I would love to have somebody to talk to you about this stuff, but I could build that into my schedule. And I'm thinking I could even set a reminder on my calendar to send me a message and say, check in on your business, and it would be a good time for me to unpack my consult bag and actually maybe take some stuff out and just let it go and that would be okay. I spent money on it, but nothing came of it. And then I just have to say, okay, Hey, I did that.

Leah: I don't need to lug this around all the time. And I think it's good when we do that and hey, here's another podcast, but when we do that, we have set questions that we go through every time.

Annie: Oh, we're totally doing that as another episode. Okay.

Leah: Make a note. Make a note of that.

Annie: So I think we could just kind of both agree that there's money that needs to be spent, but you want to be smart about it. And a lot of it really is just going to be personal to your area and what you're going to do. And we will definitely talk about price setting and all of that kind of big hairy mess at a later episode because we're talking about you have to spend money and you're expecting to make money. And I do want to leave everyone with that, that you are expecting this to be a business. You want your business to live and you want it to thrive and you want it to be something that brings you joy and it's not going to bring you joy unless you find a way for it to be financially viable. So I really believe that's possible. It's gonna look different for everybody, but I think that is a realistic goal to have.

Leah: Yeah, absolutely. That's a wonderful way to wrap up because I think so many people go into it kind of timid like, well, I don't know if this is going to work out or not, or I don't know if I'll make money. And then you really have to have that mindset about establishing a business and making it a viable contribution to yourself and your family. So that is a beautiful way to end the meat of this topic. But I wanted to ask you, Annie, I know you have a tech tip for us this week. What do you have?

Annie: I do, and it kind of relates to what we were just talking about, and my tech tip for this episode is I want you all to stop using free Gmail to communicate with your clients, and this is above and beyond any legal requirements you might have. Here in the US, free Gmail is not HIPAA compliant. It's not legal. You can't do it. Please don't do it. If you're doing it, please stop. Be good to yourself, forgive to yourself. Nobody's mad at you, but I still want you to stop. And the other reason though is for the presentation of your business. And we all know that G-mail is free or maybe we don't know. G-mail is free because Google is reading our emails. Google is reading our emails so that it can advertise to us. That's why it's free because there is no such thing as a free lunch and your clients, some of them might be more privacy minded or tech savvy. They might see that you're using a free g-mail and that actually might make them nervous. They might say, I don't know if I can trust this person because I know Gmail is reading my emails. I don't know that I want Gmail. Google reading the emails that I send. I don't want Google seeing pictures that I might want to send my lactation consultant by email, so take the time. It is not that much money to get a paid G-Suite account or set up an account through Office 365. Those are the two best options, most affordable options for having HIPAA-compliant, or if you're not in the US and you don't need HIPAA-secure email. It's not totally as secure as it could be, but that'll be a later tech tip, but secure enough for what you need it to do to present that privacy minded face to potential clients, and to actually be that in your personal practice. So that is my tech tip for today. Say goodbye to free Gmail.

Leah: I love that tip. And you know, one thing I look for that when people email me from a business and I see it's a Gmail account, it does give me pause like, wait, I thought you were with XYZ. Why are you emailing me from this? Are you with the business, or is there something sketchy going on? So I thank you so much for that information. I feel like, again, I learned a whole bunch just then as well. Things I didn't know.

Annie: So this has been really fun talking about all of this stuff, but I also want to know as we end our conversation this week, what do you have going on? What's up for you in your private practice?

Leah: So this week coming up, I am going to be doing one of my corporate classes and so in an effort to try to be more organized and prepared, I'd have to go into a big office building and lug all my stuff with me. So I usually try to pack things up over the weekend. So that's what I've been working on. Just trying to get everything together, all my tech and gear and be prepared for my class. I do those quarterly, so I really, really enjoy doing the corporate classes and getting to go in those super tall skyscrapers and talk about breastfeeding. It's just so awesome. So that's what I have going on coming up this week. How about you?

Annie: I have decided that on Tuesday, which is typically my very long consult day, I’m going to drop one of my consult spots and I'm going to give it to myself and have lunch with my very dear friend, who is a home birth midwife and I've been friends with her since before either one of us wanted to do any kind of birth or breastfeeding work, and our kids see each other all the time. But she and I never actually get to sit down and talk. And so this is feeling very luxurious that we're going to have lunch together at a restaurant when our children are not going to be there in the middle of a workday. I can't wait.

Leah: Oh, that's so awesome. And I'm so glad that you take those little moments of time to carve them out, because if you don't, they will never happen. You have to put it on your schedule, block everything else and make those kinds of things happen. I think that's an awesome way to serve both yourself and your business because hey, you're networking, so that's awesome. Well, we want to thank you guys all for listening to Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah

Annie: And if you want links and resources related to our conversation and the marketing and tech tips that you heard from me and Leah, you can visit our website lactationbusinesscoaching.com. Thanks so much and we'll see you soon.

Leah: Bye.