Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah

Shondra Mattos, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert, IBCLC, LLL Leader, Owner of Mattos Lactation, and all around amazing person joins us to drop some helpful tips about using SEOs to drive traffic to your sites and put your hypothetical neon sign out there in the world.  Shondra Mattos is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, LLL Leader, and Owner of Mattos Lactation, a locat...

On today’s episode, Annie and Leah break down for us what their follow-up strategies look like and how they’ve gotten to places where it works for them and their business. They discuss pricing, how to set the expectations with your clients, and how work/life balance comes into play.  Annie shares with us how she has worked through her pricing model to include follow-up care with different types of...

You know that the families who need us are using social media to find us, and having a presence is so important. But putting yourself out there on social media can feel so overwhelming. You're unsure where to start, especially with the million other daily professional tasks and personal responsibilities taking up so much time. We're right there with you! That's why we're so excited about this podc...

Few of us could have foreseen how the landscape of our practices would change so abruptly last spring. Many of us found ourselves scrambling to develop new protocols and explore the nuances of telehealth while also managing massive changes in our personal lives. It's been more than half a year, and we thought it was time for us to sit and reflect with all of you about how we can combine virtual to...

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 give birth to something unique and extraordinary, just like the one-of-a-kind tiny humans with which we work. That...

Have you always dreamed of helping families with breastfeeding? In today’s episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie & Leah, we talk about how we became International Board Certified Lactation Consultants, also known as IBCLCs. We discuss the different pathways to becoming eligible to sit for the board exam and break down the biggest things we have learned in the years since we first c...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Stocking Your Consult Bag." The episode was recorded prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, and things have changed since then, but as home visits will always be a part of the lactation private practice landscape this episode was deemed worth running.  Annie and Leah talk about their own home visit consult bags and how they hav...

In this bonus episode of Ask the Expert, Annie & Leah interview lactation consultant, doula, and educator Bryna Sampey IBCLC about her policies and safety procedures for in-person consults. Bryna shares with us how she protects her clients and team, as well as the role telehealth plays in caring for families and working with lactation interns. We cover sanitization, personal protective equipme...

In this bonus episode of Ask the Expert, Annie & Leah interview Rachel O’Brien, IBCLC about blogging, and how she uses it to complement her private practice. Rachel shares her process of creating blog posts and how that has changed over the years. We learn how we can make blogging work for us and our businesses, and why it’s not as intimidating as we might think. Rachel O’Brien is an Internati...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Prenatal Visits". Annie and Leah dive into what prenatal visits mean to them and if either of them offers it as a service. Leah shares her motivation tip for us today around not feeling the pressure and guilt of offering every service under the sun as lactation consultants.  They talk about how offering prenatal classes...

In this bonus episode of Ask the Expert, Annie & Leah interview Rob Scheerbarth of Podcast Rocket about his journey of starting a podcast agency with his wife, and how they help brands share their stories and expand their marketing efforts to a world where your ideal clients are already listening.    Rob Scheerbarth is the Creative Director at Podcast Rocket, the podcasting agency he started w...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Our Favorite Books for Business, Entrepreneurship & Private Practice".  Annie and Leah uncover some of the top books they have been loving related to having a private practice, and other business and entrepreneurial style topics. They talk about which books they go back to time and time again, and which ones have bee...

Today Annie’s talking with breastfeeding medicine specialist Dr. Amy Schecter, MD, IBCLC about how we can be coordinating care for in-person services such as frenotomy while working with families virtually. She inspires us to remember that families are the decision makers, and that even virtually we can offer support and information that empowers them to meet their own goals. Dr. Amy Schecter grad...

You started out with one business model, but for one reason or another, you’ve had to make a shift. Maybe you’re adding a new service, or maybe you’re pivoting in an entirely different direction. Either way, transition is a challenge, and you need to make sure you’re giving yourself extra love to get it all done. In this bonus episode of Ask the Expert, Leah interviews Brandie Mitchell, RN about h...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "10 Tips for Virtual Visits.” From prepping yourself to get into the right headspace to setting up your space and having the right tools ready to tech tips and best practices, Annie and Leah have ideas for every aspect of your consult workflow to best maximize every second for the benefit of the family on the other end. “...

In this bonus episode of Ask the Expert, Annie & Leah interview Nichelle Clark, Certified Breastfeeding Specialist, about her amazing story of relactation during the pandemic. Nichelle offers valuable insights on how lactation consultants can support families who are providing their babies with expressed milk. As Nichelle puts it, “Pumping is breastfeeding” and Annie & Leah are here for it...

In this bonus episode of Ask the Expert, Annie & Leah interview Chanelle Andrews CBS about her experience working with a dream team of non-local lactation colleagues to sponsor a virtual screening of Death by Delivery as an advocacy event for Black Maternal Health Week. Spoiler alert: it was a big success.   Chanelle Andrews owns and operates her own practice, Hey Mama Lactation and Perinatal...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Why We’re Falling in Love with Virtual Visits." They talk about some ideas for moving forward with your private practice, continuing to help families, even if you're doing something you've never done before if this is your first time doing virtual visits. Annie and Leah also talk about how these virtual visits don’t have...

We're stepping outside the lactation world to talk with Amber McCue, owner of Three Boudoir, an in-person photography business that recently went virtual. Amber is the founder of Amber McCue.com where she consults with small business owners on their growth. She is also the co-founder of threeboudoir.com and thevirtualphotoshoot.com. Amber has a talent for overcoming obstacles and helping others do...

We feel like we're updating our websites every other day as we add new services in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since so many of you may be doing the same, we thought we'd rebroadcast our episode all about website creation. As a private practice IBCLC your website is usually the first contact your prospective clients will have with you and your business. Making your website easy to navigate...

We're all taking a second look at our charting and documentation strategies as we pivot to virtual to meet the needs of families at a time when home and office visits have to be limited.  Documenting what happens at a lactation consult is super important for so many reasons, but figuring out just want to say and how to say it can be challenging.  In this episode, Annie and Leah will explain their...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Policies and Procedures for Lactation Private Practice". They talk about its importance, from training new hires to ensuring your own well-being to render the best service possible. Annie and Leah also talk about the most efficient tools they use to share procedures and organize: Loom videos and Annie's Workbook. If you...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Working with Referral Sources." Having referrals works both ways: it is a priority to service your clients when you are not available and it is also important to cultivate a relationship with others to become a trusted referral for their own business. Annie and Leah share their own personal strategies to gain referral so...

This episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Is an Office Right for Your Lactation Practice?" There are several options to move into an office setting as an IBCLC, from setting up in a physician's office to sharing an office space to building your own home office. Of course, there are pros and cons to each office setting. It would be wise to evaluate on a quarterly ba...

Today's episode of Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah is called "Why IBCLCs Need Therapy." There are so many layers of challenges, from staying ahead at the clinical level to compassion fatigue to conflict with third parties, that self-care has become a primary concern. The good news is that there are many healthy coping mechanisms and strategies, such as leaning on a trusted support...