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

Alright, Kemeera thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The story behind my mission is really special to me. It’s one of those things where the universe and existence called me forth and I fell into the alignment very seamlessly.

I was called to birthwork before I ever heard the term doula. You see, as the second oldest of ten children by my parents, my understanding of birth was influenced by what I saw. And that was my mother having lots of babies, unmedicated births, and breastfeeding most of her children. I was immensely inspired by the strength, power and magic that she and other women embody.

When I was in high school, about my junior year, I remember reading everything I could find about birth and watching all of the Youtube videos, which there weren’t that many at the time. I was invested in this magical and miraculous experience of bringing forth life. Then something beautiful happened. When I was sixteen, my mother was expecting her eighth baby and I asked her if I could go with her to the hospital when she gave birth. To my surprise she said yes! I had the blessing of witnessing the birth of my little sister. Little did I know that all of this was planting the seed for my life’s work.

At some point in my late teenage years I came across a documentary that totally changed my life. It’s called The Business of Being Born by Ricki Lake and is still available to watch. This documentary unveiled to me something that I didn’t realize was happening. Something that is continuing to sabotage what could be beautiful and empowering birth experiences for many. This documentary exposed the conventional fear-based maternity (s)care system that most women in the US are funneled through, which is riddled with impersonal care, unnecessary interventions, profit-first approaches to care and ultimately unsatisfactory, disempowering and traumatic experiences for far too many women.

I knew this wasn’t right and it fueled my desire to be part of a different story—one where all women believe in themselves, challenge stereotypes, and redefine what it means to give birth. One where having a positive, joyful and confident birth is an expectation not an accident. And so, later down the line I became a doula.

Now, back to when I was sixteen years old. My love of dance unexpectedly emerged this year and changed the entire trajectory of my life. It led me to attain a BFA in Dance and become a professional dancer and dance instructor. Throughout my own pregnancies and in the early months after I gave birth, I continued to take and teach dance classes. This is how I discovered the powerful connection and impact that dance and movement was having on my mind, body, labor, and my postpartum recovery. This is how I learned dance could be a tool for empowering women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, and so I began teaching pre and postnatal dance classes.

My mission at Mamma Jamma Dance & Maternal Wellness is to inspire women to believe in themselves and boldly reclaim their right to an informed, confident, and dignified birth and postpartum experience. I do this by providing dedicated doula support, comprehensive childbirth education, practical pre/postnatal dance, and other tailored services.

My vision for my work and for women is to reclaim the sacredness of birth and to cultivate confidence, self-efficacy and joy in expectant mothers and their families, so they emerge prepared, connected, and celebrated throughout their sacred transformation of motherhood.

This is the legacy that I and many others are creating and without my own mother and her strength, dedication and spirit, none of this would be possible. So if I have anyone to thank, it is her.

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.

Sure! I shared a lot about my path and how I got here in my mission story but of course there’s always more! Kemeera Nimahat, is my spiritual and preferred name. I am a wife to my amazing husband and mother of four children, two girls and two boys. They are all amazing, beautiful and brilliant souls who teach me so much about myself and life, and who I love and adore. One of my super powers is my ability to form a quick and authentic connection with others. I can’t tell you how many times I meet people and they spill their everything to me, or others consult me for advice. I don’t take this lightly. It’s actually a lot of pressure lol but I’m grateful and humbled to have this gift.

My path to birthwork was anything but linear. It’s actually really funny to see how everything came full circle. So, in high school after studying birth I thought I wanted to be an OBGYN. I didn’t know midwives existed otherwise that would’ve been more in alignment. Nonetheless, all of that changed once I found dance and I went from wanting to be an OBGYN to becoming a dance major and professional dancer and dance instructor. Talk about a complete 180.

During this time I still was connected to birth in my studies and eventually began sharing my knowledge with others. I found myself being invited to support my family and friends before I officially became a doula. It was Divine alignment.

About two years after I graduated from undergrad and entered the professional dance space, I decided to pursue my Masters degree in Elementary Education. During this time I was still actively dancing and teaching, and I was also unofficially “doulaing” and being mentored by my friend who was a seasoned doula. I believe she was the one who introduced the term to me.

Fast forward to 2015, I’m a full time teacher, no longer dancing professionally but still teaching it and taking classes, and also pregnant with my oldest. My birth with her ignited the fire in me to begin to make my mark as a doula official, and enroll in a training and start putting myself out there serving moms. And so I did.

Now, as a birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, pre/postnatal dance instructor, and birth coach, I help women break free of fear-based narratives, believe in themselves and boldly reclaim their right to an informed, confident, and dignified birth and postpartum experience. All of my offerings are available locally and online as well.

One thing that sets me apart is my expertise in movement and pre/postnatal dance. Many doulas are well versed in the mental, emotional, and informational support of their clients, which I am too, and that’s amazing. But very few doulas have the skills to support their clients in actually preparing their bodies for a better birth and recovery through movement. Thankfully I do! I developed my pre/postnatal dance classes to not only be fun, engaging and feel-good for the mind, body and spirit. But they’re also also be educational- think dance-inspired childbirth education class. My classes are also functional. What I mean by functional is that my technique actually integrates anatomy, pelvic biomechanics, the musculoskeletal system, mind-brain connection, and so much more to strategically help women prepare their bodies for a smoother birth and gentler recovery.

Another thing that sets me apart and which I am extremely proud of is that I can support women globally. All of my services are available in-person as well as online and retain their richness and potency in both spaces. I am most proud of my online birth and postpartum membership, Happy Healthy Birth & Beyond, which has allowed me to support far more women and their families with taking charge of their birth, than I could through just 1:1 services. Also, and perhaps the thing I’m most grateful for is that I made the conscious decision to make this service more financially accessible so that women can have greater access to much needed doula support, guidance and community.

The last thing that I”ll share that really sets me apart is my brilliance in guiding mothers through practical steps toward their goals, fostering a deep self-trust that enables them to envision their pregnancy, birth & postpartum experience in a new light and make confident choices aligned with their goals while gracefully surrendering to the unknown. Everything is within. Sometimes you just need someone to shine the light and remind you that you are enough. That you are the expert on you. That’s what I’m for. Yes, I’m going to give you the tools, tips and tricks but guess what? None of that matters if you aren’t confident in who you are, and able to trust the process.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn the idea that charging my worth or marketing my services is icky, scammy or disingenuous. I think a lot of entrepreneurs feel an internal conflict when it comes charging our worth or sometimes charging at all. This seems especially true when we’re in the earlier stages of business, for heartled entrepreneurs and those of us who offer a service where lack of access actually has devastating affects for many. But the truth is, if you aren’t generating income, you have a hobby not a business and it’s not sustainable.

Speaking for myself, as someone who was called to birthwork as part of my destiny not for a paycheck, I used to feel so uncomfortable adding a monetary value to the work that I was doing. I would “rationalize” that oh, I don’t know enough yet or I’m still learning, or oh she needs the services and can’t afford it so I’ll do it for free. Let me be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing pro bono work. The problem is when we use pro bono work as a disguise, excuse and easy way out of not facing ourselves and dealing with our imposter syndrome. I served clients for years without ever charging. I don’t regret it but I also don’t advise it.

The top two things that helped me go from freebie doula to now charging on the high end in Chicago are:

1) Changing my perspective that somehow charging for my services is doing a disservice No, it’s actually not. A symbiotic exchange whether monetary or energetic is incredibly reasonable. Not having that is doing a disservice to myself and my family. What’s the saying, “you can’t pour from an empty cup” or empty pockets for that matter lol. I have a service that is life changing, and worth every penny. Because guess what? People pay the cost somewhere anyway. What does it cost to heal your birth trauma? Or what does it cost to pay off your hospital bill for an unnecessary c-section that could’ve been avoided with education, support and guidance. So, no, I’m not doing a disservice by charging. I’m allowing people to invest in themselves and their families. Also, I had to let go of trying to “count other people’s pockets.” People invest in what they see value in. So my job is to be valuable and talk to the right people who understand what my value is.

2) I built my self-confidence. If I don’t see the value in myself and what I offer then the price could be $25 and still, no one would hire me. Confidence plays a huge role in how people perceive you. So, it was necessary for me to address my imposter syndrome and whatever else was holding me back. I’m a phenomenal doula. I don’t have to know everything. That’s not even what makes a great doula. So really working on how I viewed myself was a critical step. And guess what, when that changed, everything else did too and now I’m confident in what I offer, my rates, and the impact that I make.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The very first business book I ever read and that totally changed my lfie was The Go Giver by Bob Burg. I binged this book in one night. Ironically, this book addresses the lesson that I had to unlearn about sales being sleasy or about trying to convince potential clients, etc. The Go Giver is an easy read and is a story that teaches the princples of success through cultivating a trusting relationship and focusing exclusively on creating value for the other person, Success will follow after that. So this is a fave.

A few other books that have changed my thinking are Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy, and Building a Story Brand by Don Miller. The first two books are all about you, the individual, and how your thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions are directly related to your successes, failures and outcomes. It’s not even just about business, it’s about how your mind creates your reality on a day to day basis and the key to creating the life you want starts with your mind. Building a Story Brand was amazing and teaches how to use storytelling to connect with people and grow your business.

The last thing I’ll add is Mindvalley. If you haven’t heard of it, do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s the world’s largets and most powerful life transformation platform. Because here’s the thing. We can focus on strategy, how-to, and the technical side of growing a business. But what most people overlook is the mindset piece that has far more influence that most are aware. Like I mentioned in the story about what I had to unlearn- if I don’t have self-confidence, I can have the best marketing plan, product, etc but no one is going to buy because I don’t even believe in myself. So Mindvalley has been an amazing platform for that self-development piece that must happen in order to grow into your fullest potential as an entrepreneur.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thehappyhealthybirth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mammajammadance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kemeera.nimahat
• Other: www.mammajammadance.com linktr.ee/mammajammadance