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What It's About
A side hustle is born after a mother's own experience working with a doula and then becomes one herself.
Business Model
Service
Skills Required
Research & Marketing
Complexity
Low
Profit Potential
Medium
Words of Wisdom
Jennifer advises new doulas to connect with their local community, even though they may be reluctant since these established doulas are technically the competition. But the doulas being connected and supportive of one another benefits everyone: “Empowered women empower women,” she says.
Fun Fact
In addition to her doula work and day job in social media, Jennifer is also a circus performer. She performs fire-breathing and fire arts, as well as aerial lyra and aerial chains.
Notes from Chris
Episode 1352
For Jennifer (Jenni) Jenkins, her journey to becoming a postpartum doula was a bit of a surprise to everyone, including herself. After earning a degree in Wildlife and Conservation Biology, she worked for the United States Forest Service in Louisiana. She fully expected her life path to be full of adventures into the woods to save endangered species. Instead, she embarked on a completely different adventure after experiencing traumatic births with her first two children. Jennifer had hired a doula with her second baby. The support she received convinced her to shift her career path from working in the forests to working with expectant mothers. At least, that was her dream. But how would she do it? To begin, Jennifer knew that she needed training and certification. Her first certification cost just $400, along with $150 in additional books and resources. Births are complicated and unique experiences, not something you can just study in a textbook. A doula-in-training has to gain a broad range of experience so they can have a better understanding of how to support their future clients. So before she could be fully certified, Jennifer also needed to spend a year and a half attending births in different scenarios. Soon afterwards, Jennifer became certified and officially able to take on paid clients. She joined a local health and wellness collective and asked to be added to their website listings. This helped her business get exposure and brought in her first paying customers. To expand her network, she also attended events to meet with potential moms-to-be face-to-face. Still, it wasn’t easy. Jennifer knew just having a doula certification wasn’t going to magically bring in clients, and learning how to market herself was very difficult. It isn’t something that comes naturally to many people, and it’s one of the biggest obstacles doulas face. Her next goal is to start working toward becoming a Certified Professional Midwife. A midwife is medically trained and focuses on the health of the baby in the birthing process, while a doula focuses on the needs of the mother. The good news is that she’s managed to build a solid side hustle through her hard work. In the first half of 2020, Jennifer had already made $8,000 in her second year as a doula. To balance her doula work with her job as a social media manager, Jennifer is careful to budget her time each day.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Learn more about Jennifer's business and services her website, JenniJenkins.com.
- High-Risk Pregnancy Becomes Healthy Baby and Side Hustle: After making it through a high-risk pregnancy of her own, a clinical therapist creates resources for other women experiencing the same struggle.
- Expectant Mom Gives Birth To Organic Products Business: A soon-to-be mom takes control of the ingredients that go into her body, giving birth to a new business in the process.
- Fashionista Starts Boutique After Getting Fired While Pregnant: Upon losing her job, this Washington, DC government analyst and fashion lover didn’t panic… she started a side hustle.
Quote of the Day
"Empowered women, empower women."
—Jennifer Jenkins #SideHustleSchool
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