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

Hi Magdalena, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea for my business was born out of passion and a need in the community. Previous to starting my business I was a full-time nanny. That experience allowed me to meet many parents in different stages of their life and see the need for additional services in the community.

Becoming a Newborn Care Specialist allows me to help parents during a major transition in their lives. Moms are expected by society and the workspace to bounce back and resume their pre-baby responsibility without allowing time to heal and rest. That is where I come in. An easy way to describe my job is: I take care of your baby – day or night – while mom and dad can take time to rest, heal and adjust to the new normal. A more complicated way to describe my responsibility is: I am becoming a part of the team to help parents figure out all the ins and outs of newborn care, and parenting and to be their personal cheerleader as they are becoming more comfortable in their new role. I love my job and the bond I have with my clients.

The next step for me was to become a Pediatric Sleep Consultant to be able to foster longer connections with my clients and be there for them as their children grew. As a person who wasn’t an ideal sleeper as a baby my passion for age-appropriate expectations and education about sleep – for children and adults – only grew as I was learning more and more. For me, it isn’t about what society wants sleep to look like. It is all about what children need, what they are old enough to do, and what works for the whole family but in the end, it all comes down to habits and environment. So I am here to help parents put all the pieces of the puzzle together and guide and help their child learn new habits in a stress-free environment.

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

My name is Magdalena but I go by Magda. My business Cradle & Crescent was born back in 2018 under a different name and then in 2021, it was re-branded.

Why Cradle & Crescent? Cradle refers to the Newborn Care Specialist side of my business. And Crescent refers to the sleep help I offer for the whole family.

What sets me apart from others? I become a part of your village. I’m not coming to tell you what to do and how to do it. I come with research and multiple choices for each and every question of yours and you are the one who makes the final choice. Years of training and hands-on work help me 100% customize my approach to your needs and goals. I have a large network of other specialists within the newborn, parenting, and health field to give you recommendations based on your needs.

The big part which I always want my clients to know is: my daytime responsibilities are so much different than my night ones. During the day I focus on helping the baby learn new skills, performing any newborn care tasks needed, improving the feeding if needed, doing some light household duties if time and baby allows for it, caring for your baby’s mental and physical happiness, and being there for parents to talk, ask questions and process the changes. During the night I focus on your whole family’s ability to rest. Babies go through multiple big development phases during the first few months and I always meet them where they are developmentally and make sure they are calm and comfortable to take the rest. Feedings are also a major part of the night care routine.

My approach to sleep consultations is the same. I come with all the available research and you are deciding what your goals are and I tell you how can we get there and if your child’s brain is developed enough to reach the goal. There is no right or wrong approach. The most important part is to have realistic expectations for what we are trying to accomplish.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

For me, as a one-person business, the best source of new clients is my previous clients as well as the relationships I build with other providers within the same field and the relationships with the local agencies I worked in the past for.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Keeping in touch with my previous clients isn’t hard in today’s world of social media. I work mostly on a long-term contract so I have anywhere from 4 to 12 clients a year. We do follow each other on stuff like Instagram so when I see that they posted something I will like it and/or comment. Sometimes it sparks a conversation and sometimes it doesn’t. My clients always know they can reach out to me if they have a need for child care after my contract is over and if I am available I will work for them. I also get a lot of personal Holiday cards from my clients so I will send one as well.

Building brand loyalty is pretty hard in my field. A lot of people will reach back when they are pregnant with another baby or have questions about sleep just because they know it worked before and they know my working and communicating style.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cradleandcrescent.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cradleandcrescent/