We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Allison Coleman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Allison below.

Allison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I work as a Postpartum Doula because I love seeing growing families come together. My goal in working with every family is to provide them with the tips and tools they need to grow into the family they want to be. As a Postpartum Doula, I am the scaffolding until they feel like they have got this.

I went into training Postpartum Doulas because I really saw the need for more well-trained people to support growing families.
I also saw a need in doula training for a program that not only gave aspiring doulas the education they needed to support families, but also gave them the business skills to become entrepreneurs, and the life skills to set healthy boundaries and to set aside time for self-care so that being a Doula is a sustainable practice.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I had severe postpartum depression after the birth of one of my children. I didn’t even know what was going on. I couldn’t see that I was depressed. But it had a huge impact on those around me. I got out of that with the help of counseling, medication, and time. But I always remember how hard it was and I want to do what I can to prevent other families from getting stuck there. I am a single mom who has raised four children into adulthood. I homeschooled my kids and I practiced attachment parenting but I never bring this into what I guide families to do. My work history has always been centered around social work and birth work. I worked as a counselor in residential treatment before I had kids. Later I worked as a birth Doula. I worked as a midwife’s assistant and started training to become a midwife. Once I discovered postpartum doula care I knew that was where I really wanted to give back.

I run a postpartum Doula agency in Austin Texas. It is called Austin Baby Guru. I teach expectant parenting classes- infant safety/CPR, newborn care, and breastfeeding basics. I offer virtual support through consults/Zoom/and phone calls. I always tell parents having a virtual Doula is like having that instruction book for newborns in your back pocket. We also provide in Home Postpartum support for both daytime and overnights.

In 2015 I started my postpartum Doula training. Originally it was local to Austin. A couple of years ago we launched internationally online. I feel really passionate about training and mentoring others to provide postpartum Doula care. The program is fully assessable online, it’s very well respected, it is a comprehensive program with a focus on postpartum work. I am very proud of all of the fabulous students we have had to go through the program and the work they are doing in their communities.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

One thing I learned early on about the Postpartum Doula business was that marketing is really networking. The Doula business is all about word of mouth because families want to hire doulas who they’ve heard good things about from their friends and other professionals they trust. The whole newborn care business is about trust because you’re in a family‘s home at such an intimate time.
Before you have a background with families who are recommending you, you start to build that networking and trust among the other professionals in your field. I always teach my students to start to reach out to all of the other professionals who will work with the clients they want to work with. Meet them for coffee, jump on Zoom with them, and start building your referral list. This way when you do have clients you know the other professionals who will meet the needs they have that are things you do not offer. As you are interviewing them to be on your referral list – they are learning about you and will refer to you as well.
As you work with families and offer fabulous service, families will talk to their friends about how important postpartum Doula help is.

Any advice for managing a team?

I have found that it makes such a huge difference to communicate and show my team that while clients are really important and I want them well taken care of, my team members are also really important and need to be taken care of. When a Doula reaches out to me and says I don’t know if it’s OK to take off this day because my kid needs me – I’m going to always tell them “Yes, take care of your family, we will make it work.” When I notice a team member taking on a lot of shifts over a week, I will reach out and check in with them and remind them that it’s important to set boundaries on how much they take on so that this work stays sustainable. If there is ever an issue with a client, everyone on my team knows that while I will do my best to work things out for the client, I will also be in the doulas’ corner.
As a doula trainer who also runs an agency, it is important to me that all of the doulas I contract with continue to grow in their profession. I want the best for them.
I feel strongly that the more doulas offering fabulous service – the more work there is for all of us.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AustinBabyGuru.com & www.ABGdoulaTraining.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinbabyguru.doula/ & https://www.instagram.com/abg_pp_doula_training/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustinBabyGuru. &. https://www.facebook.com/ABGDoulaCertification
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinbabyguru/