Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah

Today we are sharing one of our very first Deep Dives. We are going to dive into what makes a care plan truly amazing. We're all about keeping things flexible and personalized, but we'll also give you some handy guidelines to follow. One thing we can't stress enough is the importance of involving the family in creating the care plan. We want to make sure everyone is on the same page, so using lang...

Today, we are chatting about Leah’s charting struggle. Let me tell you, it's been a real headache! We are just dying to find a better, more efficient way to handle it all. We both have had our fair share of charting challenges and we are spilling the beans about it. In this episode, we dive into the nitty-gritty of finding the time and focus to get those charts done. “Good enough is good enough.”...

In today’s episode, we are talking about something super important - connecting with babies and treating them like the little bosses they are.  We've got some awesome tips on how to make those genuine connections during exams, and how it’s all about consent and involving the baby in the conversation.  It's all about teamwork, baby! We also dive into the importance of understanding babies and helpi...

Are you ready to stock up on all the office essentials for your lactation business?  Well, you're in luck because we are here to guide you through the must-haves for your workspace. In this episode, we are discussing everything from safety gear to nifty tools that will make your office life a breeze. Supporting breastfeeding families is crucial, so we are dishing out the essential tools and inform...

Today we are chatting about the wild world of breastfeeding advice on social media.  Let me tell you, it's a jungle out there!  We were getting pretty frustrated with all the bogus info floating around and how hard it is to set the record straight for our clients.  It's super important to seek out reliable sources of information and to be careful about how much you let social media influence your...

As more and more parents seek lactation support, it is important to understand the unique role that lactation consultants play in providing care to families.  We know that lactation consultants are different from other healthcare professionals in many ways but how do you convey what we do to others? In this episode, we are discussing how our relationships with patients are very different from othe...

As a lactation consultant, it is important to set boundaries in order to prevent burnout. Burnout can creep up on you as we found out and it’s not fun! When it comes to boundaries, it is important to set clear limits for yourself. This means being mindful of how much time you are spending on work-related tasks, and how much time you are dedicating to yourself, your family, and your other interests...

Do you feel that as the CEO of your lactation business, you are wearing way too many hats? As a private practice owner, you have to manage everything from administrative tasks to the marketing of your business. It can be difficult to balance all of these tasks. In today’s episode, we dive into how we juggle the many roles we have to take on in our private practices and how we are managing some bet...

Have you ever felt guilty or like a bad lactation consultant when your patients don’t get the outcome you desired? We have been there and it’s a horrible feeling. In this episode, we discussed how to manage our own expectations when we can't control the outcome and how to provide validation to parents that they have done everything they can.  Lastly, we discussed the power of messaging and how it...

Are you striving to find a balance between setting goals and avoiding New Year's resolutions?  Setting goals doesn't have to be a stressful experience! In this episode, we discussed how taking the time to slow down instead of hastily cutting corners can help save time in the long run and the importance of setting aside time to plan. It’s time to rebel against New Year's resolutions pressures and f...

Are you just starting out in private practice (or maybe you are just curious and want a sneak peek behind the scenes of our business)? Well, either way, we are going to explain how our client journey unfolds. Running a lactation private practice is stressful and challenging but it’s also joyful and fulfilling. You can’t have the good without the bad. In this episode, we discuss how we handle our f...

Remember the story of Goldilocks and The Three Bears and how she found the perfect porridge and chair? It seemed it was made just for her. That got us thinking about what is our perfect amount of work cases to be taking on at a time in our private practice. We soon came to realize that this is a very hard thing to figure out. Being a lactation consultant is an emotional rollercoaster then add runn...

Have you ever thought of being a Pathway 3 mentor? Does it feel overwhelming and you don’t even know where to start? Leah jumped head first into being a Pathway 3 mentor and in this episode, she tells you all about it. Plus we got some backup to help you with all your questions about being a Pathway 3 mentor. We also give you a recap of our time at the USCLA conference and all the amazing speakers...

Do you find yourself working really hard right now so that you can give your future self a break? Have you actually taken that break that you promised your future self? (be honest!) We realized that we were doing things to benefit our future selves but then not actually taking advantage of all the things we were doing. In this episode, we discuss how what you do today can help your future self and...

Have you ever gotten swept up in the marketing tactics of online courses and purchased one only to realize that it won’t actually work for your business? We are both guilty of falling prey to the “you have to buy this course in order to grow your business” marketing tactics and it doesn’t feel good.  The thing is that most of these online courses aren’t right for lactation consultants or the way w...

Nobody is immune from stress. (If you are, then please tell us your secrets). Everyone experiences life in different ways so everyone has things that stress them that may not be obvious or logical to you.  As lactation consultants, sometimes we have to get creative in how we communicate with families. In this episode, we're talking about ways families might be stressed and how can we help them wor...

Is it your dream to have your own office for your private lactation practice? We all dream about making it look pretty and what kind of couch we would want, but there’s so much more than just the decor to think about. In this episode, we are chatting with Katy Linda, IBCLC all about finding and designing your dream office from the not so fun part of thinking about parking to the decorating part (w...

Sometimes events or issues in our personal lives affect our lives as business owners and IBCLCs. Today we are discussing how to bounce back when these things happen. Let’s be honest, life happens and we can’t always prepare for things that happen but there are some things we can do ahead of time to make sure that our private practices and our clients are taken care of. We are not always in the rig...

Does your heart start pounding when you hear the word insurance? It does for us. Maybe it’s because not all insurances even recognize us as providers plus there’s the uncertainty about getting paid. We also worry that money will negatively impact our relationship with our clients. It can be so stressful. In this episode, we discuss the emotional side of insurance and how frustrating it can be. “I...

We have all had those clients who seem to always need us and are always texting or emailing us (you know the ones we are talking about). When you first start your lactation business you just want to help everyone even if that means your family and personal life suffer. But as you take on more clients, you have to start setting those boundaries or it leads to frustration and burnout. In this episod...

We are so excited to rebroadcast this episode all about the power of collaboration with Nikki & Nikki. Do you know that kismet moment when you start talking to someone and the brimming over of idea-sharing makes you feel like you are on to something?  Something that hasn’t been created yet and there is a big need for it in the world. Like you and this person can literally come together and giv...

Brandie Mitchell, RN, NC-BC was a recent speaker for our USLCA workshop, which was such a success, so we're excited to rebroadcast this episode with her. Do you find time to rest, like truly rest? Because we hate to break it to you but having reality TV on in the background while writing emails doesn’t count as real rest! In this episode, we are talking to Brandie Mitchell, RN, NC-BC about actuall...

You want your private practice to be sustainable but where do you begin? We want to let you in on a little secret, nurturing your business is actually not just about your business. It’s also about nurturing yourself. You have to pour into yourself because behind the business is a person. As a lactation consultant, you've been called to do something amazing in the world, and being able to come at t...

Have you ever said I’m a terrible lactation consultant? We have! It doesn't matter how long you have been in your private practice, we all have those moments that make us feel like we don’t know what we are doing. We want you to know that you are not alone in feeling this way so, in this episode, we are sharing what makes us feel like terrible lactation consultants and tips on how we deal with tho...

Happy New Year! Can you believe that it’s 2022 already? It seems so crazy that we crossed into another year. The pandemic has changed our lactation private practices so much but not all of it was bad. It has actually given us new ideas on how we want to run our businesses and serve our clients. In this episode, we are going over what we are looking forward to in 2022 and what we are ready to leave...