We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristin Revere a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Kristin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I don’t steer away from risk-taking in business. As a visionary leader, I often have twenty new ideas floating around in my head. I only act on the ideas that make sense for the core values of Gold Coast after my team has input. We created The Becoming A Mother course during the early stages of the pandemic when in-person services were halted as a way to connect our doula clients and offer support outside of West Michigan. The birth and baby prep course is still going strong today. We took a financial risk investing in the course when business was slow. Our clients weren’t comfortable having doulas in their homes offering newborn care. Some hospitals we worked in had restrictions. We had time and decided to take a risk, that risk has now expanded to a book that will be published in 2024. The book is based on the content in the Becoming A Mother course and has stories from past clients and students as well as tips from expert doulas.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I own a birth and postpartum doula agency in West Michigan called Gold Coast Doulas. I started Gold Coast in 2015 with a partner and am currently the sole owner with 26 subcontracted doulas and sleep consultants. Our core focus is overnight newborn care and we also serve Northern and SW Michigan for that service. Our sleep consulting service is virtual and so are many of our classes. Gold Coast is a proud Certified B Corporation and is carbon neutral. Giving back is central to our mission. I also co-host a podcast called Ask the Doulas with Alyssa Veneklase. We co-created the Becoming A Mother course together and she is an educator with Gold Coast.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I was a childbirth educator before I became a doula. My students asked me to be their birth doula, so I got trained and later certified and joined a doula collective. I then created my own solo doula business and co-created Gold Coast Doulas with a partner who had a solo business and was an educator as well. By merging our clientele and utilizing past relationships, we had an easier entry into the market as an agency. We were both in the industry long enough to get repeat clients and have relationships with medical providers and health and wellness practitioners. I think it is better to start small and then build a larger business after creating relationships in a community. There is less risk and the overhead is much more manageable.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Collaboration is key to our success at Gold Coast Doulas. I forged strong relationships with other health and wellness professionals and we cross-refer services and offer support to each other. They have been featured as guests on my Ask the Doulas podcast and have written guest blogs and newsletters to offer more information for our doula clients who are seeking to build their dream birth and baby team.
I hold an annual diaper drive and my dropoff location partners are key to the success of the 8th annual drive. We were able to make more impact by working together. Some partnered businesses include a prenatal yoga studio, a pediatric chiropractic office, a mental health counseling group, and a children’s store.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.goldcoastdoulas.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldcoastdoulas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldcoastdoulas
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristin-revere-b44308/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxV1ZvmdeSYoy3LZe1D1P5Q
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/gold-coast-doulas-grand-rapids
- Other: www.askthedoulas.com https://www.thebecomingcourse.com/join/. https://www.pinterest.com/goldcoastdoulas/.
Image Credits
Bird+Bird Studio www.birdbirdstudio.com