We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jana Orr . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jana below.
Jana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later
I was an infant teacher for five years prior to launching my business. I never knew what a postpartum doula was until I was an infant teacher helping parents get some sleep. After spending time with a family and helping them out at night time I knew the story wasn’t done yet. I soon realized my heart wanted more than just to be a teacher in a classroom. I wish i would have know about this amazing career sooner. Now I get to change lives on a daily basis and still get to work with infants. Best of both worlds.
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?
I feel in love with this career quickly and I wouldn’t change it for anything. Prior to this field I was an infant teacher. I love the infant age. My mom was a foster parent for many years which grew my passion for children. I am a labor Doula and help support mothers in their birth journey. I help support their partners as well, I help guide them how to advocate during their births and what they want. After birth i am what is known as a postpartum doula. I help with parents catching up on sleep after their baby is born. Especially during the first two weeks. A typical evening for me consists of chatting with the parents about how the day went. I will then take over care in feeding, diaper changes, and getting the baby back to sleep. If the baby is breastfed, I will take the infant to the mother to nurse or take care of the pumping supplies as needed.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Being an infant teacher prior and keeping in contact with lot of the parents on a daily basis has helped with my reputation. Word of mouth and making connections with other doulas and businesses has helped. I love supporting other businesses and referring my clients to others as much as I can.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
About 5 years ago my mother passed away and unfortunately took a toll on my 4 brothers whom were extremely close to her. Unfortunately two of my brothers committed suicide and one overdosed. My youngest brother survived and I put him through rehab after rehab in hopes I would be able to save him. Finally after a year of going in and out he finally was sober. I was relieved to say. Right around that time Covid had hit while he was in a halfway in Florida. He was doing great up until the anniversary death of two of my brothers. He unfortunately the pain was too much and he OD. After that I vowed to find and invest my time into my passion with infants. Each month I donate to a charity raising awareness about suicide. I feel that loosing my family I also gained a new perspective to help as many people as I can with my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: Janathedoula.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/janathedoula
- Facebook: Janathedoula