Business of the Month Interview with Laura Saba of Momdoulary

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The Interview

What is the name of your business?

My name is Laura Saba and my business is Momdoulary, LLC.

What is the primary objective of your business?

We train and certify professionals through a comprehensive multi-certification program, developing professionals who can improve the lives of their clients (expectant and new parents), while creating a flexible, rewarding, and financially sustainable business for themselves. In doing so, we focus on down-line outcomes: when we train a professional, they go into the world creating positive change, one woman and one family at a time. Create a stronger foundation for a family and they can contribute to creating a stronger community, and healthier future generations.

What service (s) or product (s) do you provide?

Qualifying graduates are certified in ALL of the following: Birth doula, postpartum doula, antepartum doula,in-home childbirth educator, parenting preparation coach, family lifestyle professional organizer.

What advice will you give to struggling business owners?

Know your mission, ensure it resonates with you completely. Your core values should resonate throughout your business. Stay the course, and don’t change to fit in with the rest of the playing field – the biggest mistake I see people making is changing or modifying their business so it can compete with others. Forget that – allow your business to become what it is meant to be in the world. Re-invent the playing field. Don’t worry about competition – worry about being the best at what you do, and the impact your work will have on your customers, your community, and future generations. I know this is easier said than done, but hold on through the tough times and stay true to your core mission, and you will thrive. Remember, it gets darkest before the light.

What’s new or what is coming up in your business?

We have two exciting new thing going on: First, we are making available scholarships to 2 students in every US State in our upcoming training, as well as 2 to folks living in the following regions: United Kingdom; Belize; Portugal; Canada; Brazil.

In addition to this, we recently added our “Golden Circle” advanced certification. This is for professionals who want to go above and beyond in terms of ensuring the highest quality of service to their clients. To qualify, they must meet even more advanced safety and insurance requirements, as well as having attended a significant number of advanced trainings in niche fields, such as: supporting single moms; supporting the high risk client; supporting the VBAC client, etc.

What advice will you give that you have learned along to the way?

When running a business, we tend to focus on getting as big as we can. I have found the recipe for success is the opposite, for me. Instead of competing with other businesses, we drew our own standard. Instead of discounting our service or lowering our access point, we made it more challenging – we go for quality, not quantity. We cap the number of students we accept annually at 300 (barring very unique circumstances). We have competitors who seek training the greatest number of students possible. We simply focus on attracting the best students, and we filter them through stringent application requirements, and provide an extremely rigorous training program. This has created a whole new market for us. Don’t play on someone else’s field, create your own; don’t measure yourself by the industry’s standards, develop your own and make them better; pursue quality, not quantity.

How does your business benefit Women and their families?

Serving women and families is a key element of our mission. We aim to create a more confident, educated, and supported entrance into parenthood. Our graduates are trained to work with expectant and new families at every turn. First as antepartum doulas for high-risk pregnancies, and as childbirth educators, parenting preparation coaches, and family lifestyle organizing coaches, they help parents assess and prepare for the complex transition to parenthood, which is different from any other point in history, with challenges, considerations, and pressure women in other times never would have dreamed of! Then they attend the birth with the woman and her partner, supporting them through labor and delivery. Finally, they help during the postpartum period, providing physical and informational support, as a blossoming family transitions more fully into parenthood.

We take for granted that this is simple. It is not – parents are drowning in an information avalanche, at a time when we are conditioned to try to keep up with the Joneses, as well as seeking the one right ‘best’ answer. The reality is, what is best for the Joneses or anyone else may very well not be what is best for you. Parents are lost, assessing this glut of information. Our certified professionals are trained to help them navigate this, free of judgment from the professional, and discern what the best choices are for their family – and they are then supported in implementing them. This helps provide a more confident, educated entrance into parenthood, which creates a stronger foundation from which parents can actually and genuinely parent. A healthier, stronger family creates a healthier, stronger community. It comes full circle, serving women, children, families, all.