We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chanele Ramos . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chanele below.
Alright, Chanele thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?
I don’t wish that I started my business earlier because it took time for me to find the courage to actually start my business. I found out about doulas in 2017 after giving birth to my first surrogate twins. I had a pretty traumatic birth and when I found out about doulas it was like a light bulb went off. I wished I had one, but since I did not I figured I could be a doula and help someone not go through what I went through. I didn’t felt heard in my labor, I didn’t feel like my thoughts and wishes were met. I just felt like the doctors and nurses were doing what they wanted. I never wanted someone else to feel like me. And so that started my journey to becoming a doula and starting my agency.
Even though I knew this was something I wanted to do, it took me 4 years to execute it. I feel like I started my agency when I was meant to.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I’m a mother of 3 teenagers. They are 19,17,15. I have a granddaughter who is almost 1 years old. I’m also a proud surrogate mother of two sets of twin boys.
I’ve always had a love for all things pregnancy, birth, and baby related. I wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse. When that didn’t work out, I moved on to regular job aspirations. In 2017 after having my first surrogate twins I found out about doulas, and that started me on my doula journey.
The services I offer are:
Journey to parenthood support- this is a virtual service that helps people who are trying to get pregnant. Whether they are trying to get pregnant through natural conception, assisted reproductive medicine, or surrogacy.
I offer this service because I’ve been pregnant all 3 of these ways and I know what it’s like trying to conceive. The stress, the excitement, the anxiousness, etc. I want to help support and alleviate some of the stress surrounding this by giving guidance, informational and emotional support.
Labor support- I support from pregnancy through labor.
Postpartum support is a service to support you once baby is born. This can start at the hospital, birthing center, or home. The support looks like helping you to get settled into home, light cooking, light cleaning, baby wearing, overnight support, etc.
Traveling support- sometimes the best doula for you is not in your state, so I offer this service. I will travel to other states to support a client in labor or postpartum.
I’m most proud of being able to support women, men and families. It warms my heart to be able to lighten the load, and to be able to give comfort in times that can be highly stressful.
I want people reading this to know that I truly believe this is my soul work. I put my all into this work because I truly care about the people I support and I want them to know this but also be able to feel it in every interaction.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
When I launched my business in 2021 I thought I would get clients right away. I was working as an Uber driver and I assumed that I would only have to do Uber for 6 months. I was so wrong. The months just kept going by and it took 8 months before I got my first client.
There were so many days where I wanted to give up, so many days where I felt like maybe I had made the wrong decision. Even though I knew deep down this was my soul work, not being able to see any forward movement was discouraging. When I finally got my first client, it was like a weight lifted. I knew if I could get one, I can get another. It gave me the strength to keep pushing.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think what has helped and is still helping my reputation is my true love for this work. It’s constantly being shown in how I treat my clients, and in how I treat the people I’m connected to. My mission statement is trust and people. There has to be trust in this type of work because it’s such an intimate work. And there has to be people. The trust of the people I support, and all the people I meet is what will keep my business moving forward. I’ll always value the trust these people give me over monetary gains.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://loveandlightdoula.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovenlightdoula/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/100076344511397/