With all the hard work that comes with building a business, it can quickly feel impossible to juggle work and your personal life in a productive way. And while it’s so exciting to throw everything into creating something of your own, how do you find a balance that allows you to live the life that you’re looking for? 

WELCOME LAURETTA HAMILTON

Today I’m chatting with the wonderful Lauretta Hamilton, who made the leap from working under a franchise model to starting her own birth education business. Lauretta is an acuneedling midwife who helps birthing women and their partners feel prepared for and excited about their births through in-person classes and online sessions. 

In our conversation, Lauretta shares the backstory on how she made the move to become a business owner, including how she weighed up the pros and cons and got really clear on what she wanted out of life. Lauretta talks about the hopes she has for her business, the struggles she often faces and the practical steps she takes towards continuing growth. 

BATTLING IMPOSTER SYNDROME

So many of us experience imposter syndrome when we step out of our comfort zone, and this certainly was true for Lauretta when it came to creating her own course. We discuss the fears that come up around this, and how to quieten that little voice that tells us we’re not enough. We also talk about shifting our mindset to prioritise connection over perfection. 

RELEASING THE PRESSURE TO PERFORM

For many women, life is not consistent. However, we tend to put so much pressure on ourselves to get it all done perfectly. Lauretta shares the challenges she continues to face as she grows her business while raising a family. We talk about going easy on ourselves when things don’t go to plan, and finding solutions that work for our unique situations. 

FINDING SUPPORT THROUGH OUTSOURCING 

Lauretta loves so many aspects of running a business that she’s often tempted to wear all the hats. However, making the investment to work with a virtual assistant has freed up so much of her time and relieves her of that mental load. Lauretta encourages us to get help where we can so that we can achieve the work/life balance we’re all searching for. 

We’re all on our own unique journey, and there’s no one way to successfully build a business. Lauretta’s honesty about where she’s at is a beautiful reminder that while we all struggle to make it work at times, our love for what we do will keep us going.

LINKS:

Where to find Lauretta Hamilton: 

Website:   https://midwifelauretta.com.au/ 

Facebook: @ballaratborncalmbirth

Instagram: @midwifelauretta

[00:00:00] Emily: 

[00:00:45] Hello, hello. How are you? I hope you’re going really, really well. Oh, it is a lovely Monday here. We are up at the Coleman Farm, my partner’s family farm. We’ve just had a few days here for a party. It’s kind of like the wedding after party for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and have had lots of lovely family times and lots of Lando cuddles and meeting a few family members he hadn’t met before.

[00:01:14] I’ve just put him down for a nap. I think he’s extra tired from all the socialising. And I’m loving the age that he’s at. He’s six months now and super cuddly and giggly and yeah, I’m really loving this age and people say it only gets better. So who knows? Maybe the next, the next age I’ll be like, oh no, this is the best age. This is the best age. Last week I was a guest speaker, the keynote speaker at the Nillumbik Shire Council Women in Business annual event, which was wonderful. I will say though, oh my gosh, took my brain a little bit more than I was used to to put my talk together. I was getting it done in the evenings when Lando was in bed, and just the extra brain power.

[00:01:54] Definitely noticed a difference there. Anyway, I got it all done. I was really happy with how it went and to be up there on the stage in front of 130 or so women who are inspiring and amazing and doing all different sorts of businesses and putting in so much effort and energy and passion and all their brains into it.

[00:02:14] It was really, really awesome and I love sticking around and meeting the women afterwards and chatting to them and learning a bit about their businesses, their challenges, their amazing wins and all that type of thing. So that was awesome. I got that done on Wednesday, and then we not long after started the trek up no, what was that? Thursday? I think it was started the trek up here to the farm. 

[00:02:32] And today I have a wonderful guest view on the show. Her name is Lauretta Hamilton. I know her because she’s one of my wonderful members in the Modern Marketing Collective. Lauretta is a mum to two girls. She’s a nurse, a midwife, a birth educator, and an accuneedling midwife.

[00:02:51] And she’s based in my second hometown. I grew up in England and then when I was 13 we moved to Ballarat. So Lauretta lives in Ballarat and she helps birthing women and their partners move from fear and uncertainty to excited, confident, and we can do this through group classes, her one-on-one workshops and her online classes and birth bites, which are coming soon and we talk about this a bit more in the episode. 

[00:03:16] So Lauretta supports women in pregnancy and after they’re birthed through the practice of accuneedling, which is acupuncture by a midwife, and she says that she’s very passionate about helping women feel informed to know there are different options and how to work with labour to make decisions and understand the maternity system to make their birth a positive one, however that plays out or looks to them. And Lauretta says, because she deeply believes that birth matters for women, their partners, and their babies, and it might be one or two days, but the experience will stay with you forever.

[00:03:49] And she says, while it might be unpredictable, it’s not unpreparable. So in this episode, I chat with Lauretta about the beginnings of her business, how it’s evolved over time, what some of the challenges have been, what some of the wins have been, what’s working with her when it comes to her marketing, and what she’s working on now when it comes to continuing to evolve and develop the business. So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the wonderful Lauretta Hamilton.

[00:04:18] Lauretta thank you so much for being here with me. 

[00:04:21] Lauretta: Thank you. for having me, Emily. I’m so excited to chat with you.

[00:04:25] Emily: Let’s start off Lauretta with a little bit about you. What is it that you do? What do you offer in your business?

[00:04:32] Lauretta: Yeah, so I’m a midwife and I help birthing women and their partners to feel hopefully prepared and excited and educated about their births through, birth classes that are in person. I also do one-on-one sessions online, and I’m working on some exciting online resources, so we’ll start sharing them in the next few months. And I also do accuneedling, so that’s acupuncture by a midwife, within the scope of pregnancy. And I love doing that as well. 

[00:05:05] Emily: A nd with your classes in person and your accuneedling, whereabouts do you offer those ones? 

[00:05:11] Lauretta: Yeah. That’s important to know where that is. So I offer them in Ballarat in regional victoria. 

[00:05:18] Emily: Perfect. And for international listeners, that’s one of our states here in Australia is Victoria and I actually, well, I grew up in England, but then moved to Ballarat when I was 13 and spent…was there b ack and forth a little bit. Went to uni in Melbourne, then went back there when I was probably 22 or something for a few years and it’s a beautiful place and gorgeous, amazing creative people like yourself live there. 

[00:05:40] Lauretta: Yeah. Some great businesses in Ballarat. Some amazing women in business aren’t there. 

[00:05:46] Emily: Absolutely. There really are. There really are. S o you mentioned you have your birth classes, the one-on-one sessions, you are working on some online resources. Could you share a little sneak peek of what, just what you mean by that for people that may not understand?

[00:06:00] Lauretta: Yeah, thanks Emily. So I’m working on, I’m calling them birth bites. So they’re little snippets of birth education that are bite-sized essentially. So maybe 10, 15 minutes each. And they’ll focus on a specific topic. So maybe things like accupressure, so using that for labour and birth, other touch tools, using breath, partner prep, you know, that sort of thing. 

[00:06:25] So lots of little topics that people can sort of pick and choose to individualize their birth prep in case they don’t want a whole course, or maybe they’ve birthed before and they just wanna add on these little bits. So I’m working on that and a full course option as well.

[00:06:43] So I’m starting my first Your Birth class. So it’s all about you know, creating the birth that is a positive experience for you. However that looks, and that’s a comprehensive one day class in person, which I’m so excited about. I’m deep in creation mode and so eventually that will also be an option to purchase and do that online as well, with sort of a community support option so… 

[00:07:12] Emily: And I know that your business obviously didn’t start like this and you have some new offerings coming. Can you take us back to what it looked like and how it did look when you first got started, what you were offering, how you did get started too? What were you doing? Take us all the way back. 

[00:07:25] Lauretta: Yeah, so I have worked in the hospital, system as a midwife for 10 plus years now and I love being a midwife, but there’s challenges around, you know, shift work and juggling family life and all of that, and my health. And I also felt a little bit frustrated, I suppose, with wanting to do more before I would meet couples or women and their partners or support team in the hospital in labour already, because… 

[00:07:56] Emily: Oh my gosh. I bet. Just thinking, cuz that would be the first time really, you meet the couple that they’re giving birth. 

[00:08:04] Lauretta: Not the best time to be doing education. And of course we always try and work with whatever the woman wants. But there’s only so much you can do when someone’s in the intensity of labour. So I wanted to do more before I met them in labour on the day. To help them feel prepared and not, you know, get swept up in the system and what can happen when women do. And so I wanted to provide birth education. 

[00:08:34] And I attended a calm birth course when I was pregnant with my first daughter, and absolutely loved that. And I remember saying to my husband, Jim, you know, oh my goodness, I have to teach this. Because there’s just this whole other wealth of knowledge that we don’t often learn in our university degree and I’d worked with some amazing midwives who had this knowledge too, and always soaked all of that up. But I just thought we can do so much more than what we are doing and I want women and their partners to see that. And so I became a camp birth educator and absolutely love doing that and all of the couples that I got to meet during that time. But then I suppose I started to want more flexibility and freedom with what I was teaching. So it’s a franchise model and I wanted freedom to create my own thing, although that took a long time to get to that point mentally. 

[00:09:34] Emily: Cuz how How long, long were you offering the calm convert? birth? 

[00:09:37] Lauretta: I think I did that for maybe three years, two or three years. So not a huge amount of time. but it was in my own, my second postpartum. So it was, yeah, during a pretty busy time and it’s a full two day, full day, course. So I also wanted a bit more flexibility with the hours that I was doing and how I was juggling that, with my family and family life. 

[00:10:04] So, I actually remember, I was thinking about this when, I was planning for our chat and I remember a little message we must have exchanged on instagram, and I remember do you remember, I don’t, I I can’t remember specifically what you said, but I was asking about, I think I was starting to think could I create my own thing and and you’d suggested. Yeah, why couldn’t you do that. Or something like, that. And I was like, no, Emily, I can’t do that. I, I don’t know enough to be creating my own course. Like that imposter syndrome was so strong. That’s been a huge thing for me and it’s taken a long time for me to step into actually going. I am capable and I do know things I don’t, you know, that sounds arrogant, but I do actually I do. 

[00:10:52] I just needed the confidence to go, I’ve had all of these years of experience as a midwife. I’ve gone on to educate myself with further training and accu needling. optimal maternal positioning and all of these things. I love learning. I’m constantly, seeking out new, new ways and new knowledge and yeah. And then once that seed was planted, I, I’ve felt really energized by that. Really excited to create more flexibility and also reach more people and cater for different learning needs. Not everyone

[00:11:30] is able to do an in person course, nor they might not want to and everyone’s busy and, you know, I wanna give people more options so that they can still have that education, but in ways they can consume it more easily. So, 

[00:11:45] Emily: I actually wanna go, deeper into what you are saying, because I, I’m sure there are people listening that perhaps are part of, um, franchises or, certain accreditations or trying to think of different scenarios. but they might be feeling a similar pool that you had as to, well, maybe there’s something that I create that’s of my own. And I wonder, how did you ultimately make that decision, Loretta? Did you write out some pros and cons for each? Because I think that there’s no perfect decision. They really are just pros and cons and, with every decision that we make, and then we can assess and say, okay, well I’m happy to take those cons because those pros are more important to me. What did that look like for you? And you’ve mentioned around having more flexibility as well, even if you could explain, what that means to you even more?

[00:12:33] Lauretta: Yeah, and it’s such a big one for me, and it was, I’m definitely a ponderer. I need time to sit with things and sort of feel how it is in my body, even though that might sound a bit, you know, out there, I’ve learned to tune into that more the older that I get and the more experiences I have because It does tell you, and often it does know maybe before you’ve come to that conscious decision so probably that process looked like I actually did do pros and con lists, talking to other friends that maybe I had a good friend who was also an educator and also went out to do her own thing, and lots of chats with my sister, my husband. Yeah. all of that. But it definitely took time to feel like, actually I can do this and. and it really is about I wanna make my business work for me and my family too. 

[00:13:32] And that’s something I have struggled with because I love it so much that it can become all consuming. And I’m not great at saying no. I’m definitely better than I was at the start, but I have to remind myself that it does need, I created it for freedom and flexibility and that, elusive work life balance, and I have to remind myself, that’s why. So that’s ultimately why I started it in the first place as well as to help, you know, birthing women and partners. 

[00:14:05] But that was really important to me and getting that back and being able to have my own. courses and decide how I run them and offering them online. It frees up my time so that I’m not doing all one-on-ones or all in-person 

[00:14:22] Emily: Mm. And what did it look like for you with the imposter syndrome, Lauretta? I know that some people actually, um, may not have heard that terminology before. A lot of other people have and will be able to identify with that. I wonder for you, could you pinpoint what the fears were?

[00:14:42] Of, okay, well I’m going to create my own educational resources. I’m gonna do this my way, offer it in ways that I believe will be really supportive to, birthing mothers or birthing women. What did the imposter syndrome look like for you? How did it show up for you and what were some of perhaps the fears around that?

[00:15:00] Lauretta: I think a big one. was fear of what other people might think or say about me, and I think I felt sort of protected under that franchise framework because it wasn’t all me. So in a way, I was kind of hiding behind that. And not to say that I didn’t gain so much from that because I did that also has helped me get where I am today. But yeah, I think that was a big one. Worrying too much about what other people might think or say. I look at it now, it’s, it’s not a reason not to do something. You know, you are the only one that’s going to live your life and your business. And really it only matters what you think and what the people you love and value and respect what they think. so, but that was a huge one. And I think also just that. I’m not enough or I’m not good enough, or I don’t know enough. I haven’t, I haven’t done enough to be someone who can speak with 

[00:16:03] Emily: Hmm. Oh, absolutely. I can, um, relate to that one too and perhaps even, was it the idea that someone might ask you something and you dunno the answer, say at your workshops or that 

[00:16:15] Lauretta: Yeah. Yes, definitely. And, that happens, and I, I know myself, if I, you know, if we reverse that role, if I ask someone and they are honest with me and say, oh, I actually don’t know I need, might go and look into that, I don’t think any less of them. I actually respect that more because I think, well, you’re not pretending And, I don’t know everything and I never will. So and that still is a fear, you know, with when you’re putting things up on Instagram and trying to share educational content, you know, that little voice can be very mean and harsh sometimes. 

[00:16:51] Emily: really can. And I think, um, it can be helpful to know that it’s unfortunately Quite common and quite normal that it does get easier in terms of, I dunno if that voice necessarily goes away, but I find from my experience, I’m able to snap out of it a lot quicker or just turn that volume down a lot easier, because I guess I’ve been through it many times before and I’m like, well, what is the worst that can happen?

[00:17:17] Oh, I can totally deal with that if someone disagrees with me as long as I believe in what I’m saying. also, I’ve learned that I can say like, this is just my opinion as well for certain things, or this is what I have found. Doesn’t mean that you might have found it, doesn’t mean that you share that opinion. That’s totally fine.

[00:17:33] Lauretta: Exactly, and that’s such a, big learning that, I have gained from yourself. And being in the group, that’s been huge because birth is so unique and parenting and it’s all individual. and there I really, truly have no agenda when I’m sharing, anything about labor, birth, pregnancy because, There is no right or wrong, it’s just what’s right for you.

[00:17:58] And I firmly believe that, And that’s my goal in what I’m doing. I think the mindset stuff really came from yourself and that those little mantras, like connection over perfection, you’re not gonna get it right all the time. And that. it’s almost like a down to earth way. It’s the opposite to perfection in the way you do things and, that’s okay. It’s almost like I felt I had permission to make mistakes or to not be perfect and I really felt that from, following you and being in the modern marketing collective I think the biggest thing has been the mindset shifts that have helped me get to this place where I actually feel I can do my own. 

[00:18:41] Emily: How powerful is that? And I think it’s, we can understand, intellectually the strategy and what we should be doing, but we are not gonna do it until we’re, we kind of have some of that mindset in place and that willingness to make mistakes and to know that we’re going to be okay. I also wonder Loretta as well, because this has been quite big for me, is for us, first of all, knowing that growing our business, there’s no one right way.

[00:19:05] There’s no single way to do it. And then I guess that comes through with the way that you might teach. And I teach. Is that I’m not sharing the only way to do this. I’m not sharing the one way that you must do, and I’m sure it’s the same for you. Like you said, there’s so many different experiences of birth and just knowing that what you put out there,

[00:19:24] You are not trying to be right or wrong. You’re just sharing, look, I’ve learned some things over the years. This is what can be really effective. And let me just share this with you in the hope that it’s going to make it a little easier, a bit of a better experience for you, and to support you. And we are not trying to say, you must take my approach and this is the one way to do it. And you must follow this perfectly, step by step by step.

[00:19:49] Lauretta: Absolutely. And I think that also made me think about, you know, there’s a lot of people that are sharing about birth, I mean, I am in the bubble of that world, but sometimes I can feel like, oh, you know what am I sharing? This, this has already been spoken about or, you know, someone’s talked about this before, shared something similar, but that’s the thing. We all have our own unique perspective and way of sharing and doing things and, again, that’s been a real learning when I’m feeling those feelings. Just be you, like, just do it the way that you want to do it because no one else is you. And again, that’s a big one from you that’s quoting you back to yourself. But it is, it’s that no one else will be the same as you. So, embrace that rather than fear that I think. 

[00:20:41] Emily: and I think that everybody is just amazing and extraordinary and unique and brings their own flavors and their own approaches, their own quirks. And the more that we all understand that, that is what makes our business so amazing as those sole traders or small business owners, and that’s what helps build that connection versus trying to put on a facade or be overly, professional or corporate or whatever we might think we need to be, it’s what’s actually going to help our audience to feel like they can connect with us and to see some similarities and ultimately to feel that sense of kind of like loyalty and understanding and like, oh, Loretta, she just, just gets me and I can see some shared values between myself and her, and let me take that step closer to learning more about what it is that she does or working with.

[00:21:28] Lauretta: Yeah. that’s right. And isn’t that a beautiful thing? Because you can then find what connects with you and what you resonate with. Because I won’t be for everyone, but you they might find someone else that, okay, I really like the way they shared that. And yeah, it’d be very boring 

[00:21:42] Emily: And as well, that you, you couldn’t possibly work with every single person. That needs or wants what you have to offer. And there’s so much work for all of us, for everyone out there, and it’s just a matter of us finding and, getting ourselves in front of the people that we can help and that are attracted to the way that we do things. Um, Lauretta, I’d love to ask you, you mentioned, previously a bit about that flexibility and making your business work for you. Could you tell us what, What you’ve designed your business around, what’s important to you to have time or space or energy for in your life and how you’ve been able to, or how perhaps you’re currently working on making that, work for you in your business?

[00:22:19] Lauretta: Yeah, I think that’s a really, um, good point, Emily. I’m always working on that. That’s, it’s a real work in progress. Like I mentioned earlier about reminding myself that it needs to work for me and my family and my life. but. I suppose, and this has really evolved because I’ve, been through two pregnancies since I started doing this, and two postpartums and moving back into hospital work. So I suppose now I sort of have one day a week to work on my business, which is not enough, but I really. love that I have that day to actually work on it, not just in, my business. 

[00:22:57] Emily: you would.

[00:22:57] Lauretta: I need to be a little bit more perhaps routine and strict with myself because sometimes it can end up being a bit of a, uh, not as productive as I should be perhaps, so usually I’ll try and I’ll have one day a month where I’ll try and maybe I’ve started trying to really batch my content for, media and Instagram. it really depends what’s going on. So whether I have, if I need to prep for a one-on-one session, or if at the moment I’m really working on my, content for my, your birth class and my birth bite, so it’s not the same every week, and I really would like it to be more, you know, more routine. it just sort of flows depending on what I’ve got that night or that week or, and what I need to plan for. So 

[00:23:48] Emily: I think that it’s always going to be that way. I was thinking about this the other day, and I think we’ve put so much pressure on ourselves that things have to be consistent. But first of all, as women, life is not consistent. We have our own, for those of us perhaps that are menstruating, we have our own cycles, our own en energy.

[00:24:02] Then there’s so much in life we have, we take on as women. I think so much of the the caring roles, whether it might be for parents, whether it might be for children, I don’t know. You know, you might be the one that gets the calls to pick up the kids or all that type of thing. So no week is ever going to be the same as the one prior and then the one after.

[00:24:22] And I think that when we put pressure on ourselves that everything must be consistent. And if it’s not, then we’re failing or we are doing it wrong. It’s just like, makes us feel crap about ourselves. So I think it’s like, yes, having the the intention and having the, okay, this is, if I can even get these things out every month, that’s my goal.

[00:24:43] And knowing it’s okay that some months that might look differently. And also knowing that I kind of think we need to do less things for our marketing than we think we need to do sometimes. Uh, we can have a lot of, um, thoughts around, I should be doing more, I should be doing more. But if we can just do things, regularly, and with some intention and with some thought, that’s going to go a long way as well. What, has been your experience there? What do you think? 

[00:25:10] Lauretta: I think that’s so true and that that’s actually really validating because. I have that want to be more consistent. Okay, this day I do this. But I have started trying to do, say, okay, I need to get this done, and I give myself time over the week and okay, fit it in maybe once my girls have gone to bed or maybe if my littlest is playing well for five minutes, I can do that. But, that’s been really challenging in. I think once when you have kids and or maybe other things in your life that are, similarly pulling you away from that work, what I’ve struggled with is not having that. Consistent, you know, length of time. So it’s often five minutes here, 10 minutes there. And I do still find that really hard. It’s really lovely. When I say on the weekend I have my husband’s home and he can go and take the girls to the park or I have an hour or a few hours to actually really go do that 

[00:26:09] Emily: I completely understand. Loretta, I feel like I’m going through this at the minute. So Lando is six months today and up until this date, we haven’t really had any other people caring for him, on an. Any sort of regular basis or anything. Sometimes my, um, mom might have had him for a little bit or koen someone, which has been amazing.

[00:26:29] And then right at the minute, Coens with him now so I can record a couple of podcast interviews and, he hasn’t when I do my coaching calls, but, um, I’m really finding that thinking time because I don’t think you can do it in 20 minutes, five minutes here and there, and it’s so crucial. if you’re happy to, do you wanna share the age of your girls or 

[00:26:48] Lauretta: Yeah. 

[00:26:48] Emily: in childcare?

[00:26:50] Lauretta: Yeah, so they’re three and six. So my eldest is, at school, so that’s a whole other world and daycare. My littlest does, um, kinder and daycare. So she has two days a week of, daycare or two and a half sometimes. Yeah. I usually do my Accu Needling on one of those days. And then the other day is sort business workday, but, trying to concentrate and especially if you’re trying to create something that requires that time, it’s really hard. And I don’t feel like I’ve gotten better at that since having my first, and I think that I just need to maybe accept that this is the season I’m in and you just do the snippets where you can, because I don’t know how else you do it. I think. And there is beauty in that we have our phones, and we can do little bits here and there, but I also struggle with the not being present enough at times. And so it’s it’s really tricky. It’s, a lot, isn’t it? 

[00:27:49] Emily: It really is. It really is. And I, um, It’s, like, what is the solution? it’s gonna be so different for everyone. Do you have, are there any ideas that, and that’s the other thing as well, like you mentioned, it’s like, okay, well maybe this is just what it is for now and I have to accept that and I have to let go and I have to be okay with doing the minimum. That I can get done right now. But are you looking at making any changes in, I guess, what the situation looks like if you’re 

[00:28:12] Lauretta: Yeah. Yeah. I think I’m trying to move more into my business as less of a side hustle, more as, you the thing that I wanna really be doing more of and so less at the hospital but I think for me, something that did really help was having my lovely virtual assistant, Cass, who’s also in the modern marketing collective. 

[00:28:33] Emily: know that. 

[00:28:33] Lauretta: she’s just feeds so amazing and she’s so. .I’m so lucky that the first person I connected with to do that and to work with was Cass because she is, she’s so intuitive. She helps me so much with things that I don’t get time to do or I don’t have the, ability to do so. Things with my website and some of my scheduling and, some beautiful designs for my Instagram. it’s been amazing having that, but also that was a real mindset thing to, you know, when my business is not my main income source. So spending money when you are, perhaps I don’t have a huge profit.

[00:29:14] I’m still in the building phase, so even that’s challenging. But I think I needed to, and it’s honestly been the best thing that I’ve done is so outsourcing some things. Yeah, 

[00:29:26] Emily: And it’s, um, it is so valuable, um, because then it does give you that time to do the things that will bring the money into the business as well. Has that been your experience because you could spend that time tweaking designs or trying to figure out how on earth to do them 

[00:29:42] Lauretta: Yes, that’s the thing, isn’t it? You don’t. There’s a lot that needs to be done, and I think you’re wearing so many hats in the business, and I love doing all those. Well, I don’t love doing all of those things. I certainly don’t love the accounting or the bookkeeping side of things, but I’ve felt for a while that I can do these things, but I can’t do all of them well, yeah, that’s been a real struggle and that’s the time thing as well. So I really wanna, I wanna, have more time to, do things well and be more consistent and yeah, just give it more of my time and attention and, yeah. That’s, 

[00:30:21] Emily: And it’s, it I’ll be honest, and it can feel a little frustrating for me anyway, because I’m like, oh, I just, there’s so much I wanna do and there’s so many ideas and I really just feel at, this moment. it’s just getting by in some ways. It’s like, okay, just getting what absolutely needs to happen happen, but that’s not, the way that you can keep running the business forever as well. 

[00:30:41] Lauretta: No, no. And I feel that so much, Emily, that frustration. It’s I have so many ideas, but it’s not having the time to bring them to life in the way you want to. It’s, it’s a real 

[00:30:52] Emily: it is. And I think like I said, it’s gonna be so different for everyone. For us, I’m like, right, I’ve put a job up for a nanny I’m meeting one this week? Cuz I keep as well going back and forth over, well maybe I can make it work. You know, he does sleep a couple hours a day, but I just am not getting what I wanna get done. I don’t know, it’s a, it’s a tricky thing and I, I’m like, right, I have to advocate for myself on what I need and what I want and kind of realize I wasn’t doing a great job of that. so I’m just gonna make this happen 

[00:31:21] Lauretta: yeah, that’s, I love that. That’s so good that you’re doing that though, because you also need time for you and trying to get things done in nap times. I think that then makes you frustrated at them because if they have a short nap or, Yeah. it’s a real juggle, and this is the mental load of women in business. And mothers and carers and 

[00:31:43] Emily: And I think like we can have it all. We can do it all, but not alone and it’s going to be incremental, I think, in what. in how it all happens in terms of right now you’ve got, a virtual assistant helping and that’s working and the business will continue to build. And then maybe it’s like, right, I no longer should be or have time for, or it’s no longer smart for me to be doing this part of my business. Maybe there’s someone else that can support with this. Or maybe it is with things around the house or the children or whatever it looks like. And I think everything is just a, um, A work in progress and just seeing what works and then iterating and building on, top of the previous. Hmm 

[00:32:22] Lauretta: And that is, is that learning as you go and what’s working, what’s not Or learning from other women and what works for them 

[00:32:30] Emily: yes. And I think, um, particularly as well, cause I’m in this phase two, I’m just like, what is everyone else doing? How are they making this work? Please tell me 

[00:32:40] Lauretta: I know. 

[00:32:41] Emily: God. 

[00:32:42] Lauretta: we are all having these similar struggles, aren’t we? It’s, it’s certainly not easy, but. I think when, yeah, when you love what you are doing, it’s worth it. But it definitely is challenging and I know so many other women who feel that frustration as well of that push pull between mothering and business 

[00:33:01] Emily: Hmm. let’s have a look, Lauretta, at what is working with you in terms of attracting incredible people into your business, clients, um, people coming to your workshops in terms of doing that and the marketing. What can you share for those listening, in terms of what you have found Works really well.

[00:33:22] Lauretta: Yeah. So I need to have a disclaimer with this, Emily, because I’m not great at the analyzing the numbers and really looking deeply into what’s working. so I’m not doing so great with that. But I think my main advertising, my main marketing is through social media. And I’m trying to expand on that. through building an email list. And I actually really enjoy that too because I can, I really like writing, so I’m 

[00:33:50] Emily: yes. Yes. 

[00:33:53] Lauretta: on that. 

[00:33:53] Emily: That’s actually a good, well, it’s probably a good problem to have cuz a lot of people struggle with the longer form, like, gosh, what am I meant to be talking about here? What am I meant to share? And I think when you can, communicate in the longer form and have some really substantial, um, things to say, then hopefully it does provide you with opportunities to take a little snippet out and share it. And I think you’re doing a brilliant job on your social media with your graphics and everything. They always capture my attention. I think. Oh, that looks really good 

[00:34:18] Lauretta: oh, Thank you. That’s lovely. Uh, but yeah, social media is my main, yeah. Sort of, way that I, get to know that people get to know me, I should say, through sharing on there and also, I’ve found that building community, so in that sort of birth world bubble on Instagram and also locally, so I, and I need to work on that more. So trying to, you know, connect with people in allied health or local gps or obstetricians. Um, so that’s, Been sort of just, you know, dropping off posters, cards, that sort of thing, or, talking to people that I might go and see myself and, you doing that sort of work. But that, takes time.

[00:35:02] yeah, I think word of mouth is probably one that locally helps a lot. And, even on social media, you know, I find people will sometimes tag their pregnant friends or, that sort of thing. I am trying to work on being more consistent with my social media while at the same time not putting too much pressure on myself to post, you know, a number of times a week. If I post once a week, I’m happy with that. And that’s, again, come from working with you And yeah, just realizing that I don’t need to be posting every day and, and I very much am about, going with what I’m feeling and what I’m thinking about that week, rather than being very structured about it, which again, I, I want to be more structured, but it’s just not really, not really me. And so I’m trying to just go with that. But that’s just me, and that’s okay. And I think 

[00:35:57] Emily: Could you go into a little bit more detail? What social media platform, what type of content do you find, gets perhaps people inquiring with you? What what’s working 

[00:36:06] Lauretta: yeah, So 

[00:36:08] Emily: love 

[00:36:08] Lauretta: Instagram. That’s my favorite place to be. Haven’t ventured to TikTok yet, although I feel like everyone’s doing that. 

[00:36:15] Emily: Did you? And, next Wednesday, by the way, we have a year two masterclass, or year two plus masterclass in the collective. So we’ll make sure, and we are learning about TikTok in that, just as a little bit of a, okay, here’s how it works, here’s what to know about it. Up to you if you wanna go for it right now, but at least you have the knowledge of how 

[00:36:31] Lauretta: So good. Well that will, I need that. That will be amazing. But also, I’m pretending that. I 

[00:36:36] don’t need to go in there, but I, probably 

[00:36:38] Emily: thing like. often, there’s less that you need to do than you think, and I think we can look at so many businesses and feel as though they’re doing everything. but really for them, there’s still only a couple of things that are really working really well. And if we can just understand what they are for our business right now and hone into them and keep going with them, that’s absolutely amazing.

[00:36:58] Lauretta: So true. I need to remember that. Okay. I won’t be so scared about TikTok so I do I probably, I mostly do either just your standard Instagram post or some carousel posts. I am trying to do, I’m working on some more video content because I know Instagram likes that. You know, I notice a difference in the numbers 

[00:37:22] Emily: Yes. As much as you don’t want the numbers to tell you that, you’re like, please be the worst performing content when I do a video of myself, please. And then it’s like, okay, people like this. Damn it. 

[00:37:31] Lauretta: with the 

[00:37:32] Emily: But you know, like it’s so important because if someone was to book a workshop with you or a one-on-one, they’re gonna wanna hear your voice, understand your mannerisms, understand are we gonna be a nice fit for each other? Do 

[00:37:43] Lauretta: Yeah. It is. 

[00:37:45] Emily: I can trust? 

[00:37:46] Lauretta: Yeah, it is. It’s so important. And I, I think also I need to remember that I need to make my content go further. So I think sometimes I’m packing too much into things, and I could be breaking it down more, and I think that’s been a real learning over the last month that I can, Use it in more creative ways and different ways. Um, so I’m working on doing 

[00:38:09] Emily: Yep. brilliant. Cool. And you are, and you’re doing email marketing. Loretta, what are you doing there with your emailing? 

[00:38:15] Lauretta: Yeah, so I’m just doing a monthly newsletter, so the birth buzz. and I love just sharing, it might be a little snippet of maybe someone’s birth story or what I’m reading or listening to. and just any updates about what my services are doing for the month or any special offers. So just, yeah, depending on what, what I’m doing that month, I just like to share a bit more in there yeah. Write a little bit more than an Instagram post. So I’m not restricted to the word count so 

[00:38:45] Emily: I love So, um, some email marketing to your list. some really, um, good quality social content. Anything else that you’re doing? You mentioned as well, um, some of that networking, meeting other people with, like-minded audiences to you.

[00:38:57] Lauretta: Yeah. Yep. No, that’s probably it. I have, so I’ve got a little community directory on my website to help connect with other people, so that’s a nice way to sort of reach out to people if they’ve just moved to Ballarat or you know, they’re offering services to, pregnant 

[00:39:12] Emily: yes. 

[00:39:13] Lauretta: services or anything like that. 

[00:39:15] Emily: Yeah. now I did hear your voice. On a birth resource that I bought that I wonder if that has been up there with some of your biggest, wins or favorite moments or that type of thing in your business. Uh, would you like to share about that and any other, highlights and just really proud moments that you’ve had in your business so far?

[00:39:35] Lauretta: Yeah, that was honestly amazing early, so I was part of the Sophie Walker, so she. Has the amazing Australian Birth Stories podcast, and I’ve loved that from the beginning and used to chat to her often on Instagram when she first started. And then she asked if I wanted to be a part of her birth class, her audio series, um, for, Birth preparation. So I got to have a little segment on there about optimal, optimal maternal positioning. And oh, I was so nervous, but it was just amazing. And I, I still can’t believe that I actually got to be part of it. Um, 

[00:40:13] Emily: so good. 

[00:40:15] Lauretta: But those unexpected opportunities, I just, they’re just amazing. And I got to go to, um, Sophie and Jody. Have released a book, so the Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, and I got to write a little quote in there and I got to go to the book launch. So that was really amazing. And yeah, I was totally starstruck by them when I met them, but, it was, Yeah. like getting to do all of these things and be on podcasts like this, it’s, I always hated public speaking, so it’s not something naturally that I was sort of drawn towards, but I’m really enjoying. All of these little things that, these opportunities that come up and speaking to student midwives, I spoke to a group at the ACU in Melbourne last year and yeah, it’s really, really, amazing. 

[00:41:07] So I’m loving that as well as, you know, just connecting with women and their partners and trying to make a bit of a difference to our birth culture and that’s the main thing, but all the extra things are just yeah. Really great. And loving 

[00:41:22] Emily: so good. Loretta 

[00:41:24] Lauretta: terrified as I am when I do them 

[00:41:26] Emily: Well, Loretta, thank you so much for your time today. you’ve covered so much. You’ve shared really genuinely and openly and generously and talked about, making some decisions in your business to keep it, in line really with what you want out of it and the, contribution that you want to make into your industry and the space you are in.

[00:41:45] Some of the challenges you’ve had along the way. Including the imposter syndrome. And I know that it’s something that we all or so many of us can struggle with in different, intensities, I think. and what you’re doing with your marketing and how you’re making that work right now and feeling some of those, pools and a little bit of frustrations and again, things that I think many of us can resonate with.

[00:42:05] So thank you so much. It’s just been a delight to. See everything that you do and to hear updates and, um, I just think the work that you’re doing is remarkable. so where can everyone go to find and follow and connect with you, Lauretta? 

[00:42:20] Lauretta: on Instagram, I’m @midwife.lauretta, I was looking down like I needed to read that. That’s concerning. Uh, and my website is midwifeloretta.com.au. And thank you, Emily. You’ve been such a big part of me. getting to this place and for all you create And share, we’re very lucky to have you lead us in this space. so thank you so much for having me. 

[00:42:42] Emily: makes my work just a joy. So thank you