We were lucky to catch up with Lauryn Bell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lauryn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I took was relocating to a new state in the midst of a Global Pandemic for my career and starting a whole new life with my spouse. I can say it was the most chaotic and emotionally draining experience ever, that I feel like I didn’t fully recuperate from until about a year or so ago. There was so much scrambling and imposter syndrome, some days I felt like i wasn’t going to go far with my business because I had never run a business like that before and the economy was basically crashing. I always asked myself “Is this a good idea?” and some days it felt like a terrible idea. I attempted to work a 9-5 through it all and later my next biggest risk was quitting my 9-5 and becoming a full-time entrepreneur. Today, I can say the risks have all brought me to my divine path and everything has worked out when I thought it wouldn’t.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a full spectrum holistic doula and midwife birth assistant; I found my passion for birth work growing up supporting women in my family through their pregnancies/births, then later as I studied black maternal health and the mortality rate of black birthers. My activism is the foundation of my birth work. I believe in advocacy, empowerment and education while helping birthers along with their families make informed decisions for their experience. My specialties are spirit/energy work for momma and baby, perinatal yoga + meditation, breathwork and herbal preparations! My mission centers your desires/needs for your birth experience around your whole being along with my use of traditional divination workings.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective “strategy” for growing my clientele has been to show up authentically, no matter what that looks like. Being neurodivergent and fully understanding what that looks like for me as an adult has let me unmask a lot ore and address my needs unapologetically. Being authentic about who I am and what my work looks like has been the best way of marketing and putting myself out there. My content is not scripted or “thought out” it catches me in the heart of my work at all moments and allows people to see the beauty, hardships, and mess of birth work so to speak.

Any advice for managing a team?

Always be transparent and prioritize effective communication. This is my first year since being a full-time independent doula and before hiring, I had to do some self-reflection about how transparent I would allow myself to be and assessing my communication skills as a professional. Having a team also means having people in your circle that share the same morals and values as myself, allowing communication and transparency to flow more freely. I was independent and holding so many pieces on my own for the last some years, so it was hard for me to let go and hire a team. I can say it has been the best decision ever and has helped me maintain my high morale.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.loholistics.com
• Instagram: www.instragram.com/lo.holistics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lo.holistics