Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ann Marie Harriger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ann Marie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

I am extremely fortunate to be in a field where there are many hear warming stories.

Something that I enjoy most about my job is helping people do a 180 in all around health. Sleep after all is a biological necessity, not a luxury.

There is one family that stands out in my mind. I remember exactly where I was when they called to inquire about my sleep programs. I was about to walk into a restaurant to meet a friend for dinner and received a work call. I typically would let the call go to voicemail and get back to the family the next day. For some reason I answered (knowing I would not be late to dinner!)

Immediately upon talking to these parents I could hear the desperation they had to improve their families sleep habits. The confusion they had about what to do, and their legitimate concern about the negative impact poor sleep was having on their whole family, in particular their two young daughters.

They had two daughters ages 4 and 10 months. The four of them were all sleeping (well attempting to sleep) in the same bed and mom and dad wanted a change immediately.

They of course loved their girls so much and didn’t want to lose snuggle/bonding time with them. At the same time they knew that they were all seriously sleep deprived. They told me multiple times that they had no idea what to do.

This was the first time that I had worked with a family with the dynamic of a preschool aged child and a baby. I was apprehensive to take on a case like this, but at the same time I was 100% confident that I would be able to help them.

After working with this family for just 3 nights their sleep habits improved drastically. Not only had mom and dad reclaimed their bedroom, but they reported that all four family members were showing positive changes from getting better quality sleep.

Something that was very important to them was to be able to incorporate family snuggles into their day to day while keeping boundaries and upholding good sleep habits.

This mom and dad truly thought that what they wanted to achieve was impossible.

This particular client story stands out to me because of how grateful the parents were. I had helped them when they felt lost. I provided the knowledge and plan needed in order for their whole family to get quality sleep which helped them be a happy, healthy, and rested family.

Most importantly, I worked with them in a personalized way so that they would be able to also have their special cuddle time. This is not an easy task because that type of engagement can very quickly derail sleep habits that required a lot of work to establish.

I love this story because how much I was able to help this family. At the same time this family seriously helped me. They gave me the opportunity to take on more than I normally would have. I have since helped almost a hundred families with more than one child and every time I take on such a case, I think back to this family and am thankful I took their call.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello! My name is Ann Marie Harriger and I am the founder of AM Smiles Sleep Training.

I married my college sweetheart and we have 3 boys ages 11,8,and 5.

I knew I wanted to be a pediatric sleep consultant when I was a nanny while attending grad school. The family I worked for had 2 boys ages 5years old and 3 months. The baby had miserable sleep habits and was always fussy since he wasn’t getting quality sleep. I knew that when I had my own children things would be much different in our family.

When my oldest son was 5 months old my husband and I did our research and sleep trained our son. It was life changing. That sounds extreme, but it really was. When our second son was born we started the sleep training process when he was 4 months old, and by the time my third son came along we started the day he turned 12 weeks.

I would tell friends and family members about our family’s sleep habits and they were amazed, and a lot of the times jealous. I started helping friends with their sleep planning, then friends of friends of friends. The first time a friend of a friend of a friend reached out to me for help I knew this could be something real!

I believe that what sets me apart from others in the industry is my personal touch. I know that no two babies are the same. I understand that babies are not robots, and that what works for one family may not work for another family.

I truly enjoy getting to know the families that I work with on a very personal level and creating a plan that they are comfortable with, that I also know will work.

I have been told countless times from my clients that they feel like they are working with a friend. That comparison lights me up and motivates me to reach more families. It is seriously amazing what good quality sleep will do for your overall health!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The best way to grow my clientele is two part. The two parts being positive client experience and word of mouth.

The most important part of this is serving my clients the best I can. My top priority is of course that my families achieve their sleep goals, but right along with that priority is that they have a positive experience wile doing the work. I want them to feel comfortable with the plan they are implementing and want to support them from start to end.

Once a client has had a positive experience spreading the word about my service falls into place pretty naturally. I always ask for a client testimonial, but I have found the happier a family is with their experience the more they want to tell their friends and family about it. Quality sleep puts people in a good mood after all.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

Yes, I would choose this profession again (and again and again and again). The only thing that I would do different is that I would have gotten started sooner.

I went to school for teaching. When I graduated from college and started teaching I learned I wasn’t born teach, which by the way you have to be born to teach in order to be a great teacher (in my opinion).

I wanted to be a stay at home mom and loved doing that for 6 years.

When my youngest son was 1 I was very serious about finding a job that would allow me to use my mind and fulfill the professional needs I had while also being a stay at home mom.

Evolving my business was the absolute perfect fit.

I was able to work when my kids were at school and my baby napped. In the beginning this time was very limited of course. But again, it was perfect because I got to decide how much I wanted to work and when I worked.

More importantly was the work I was doing. I feel very seriously about sleep. Even now that my kids are older sleep, is a top priority. They play hard and need to consistent high quality sleep in order to be able to maintain the active lifestyles that all of my kids enjoy and naturally create.

As their mom I need quality sleep in order to keep up with them!
I truly love my job because it doesn’t feel like a job.

I love connecting with families and helping them make life changes for the good.

Improving quality of sleep is a serious life change. Sleep is a biological necessity after all.

I help families becomes happy, healthy, and well rested, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amsmilessleeptraining.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/am_smiles_sleepcoach/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMSmilessleeptraining
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@amsmilessleeptrainingconsu7730