We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nikki Lee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Nikki thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?
25 years ago, a new mother hired me to help her with breastfeeding. Her birth had been rough and the baby was in NICU for a few weeks. When they finally got home, her baby would only latch occasionally with a nipple shield.
21 days later, after several consultations, she reached her goal of direct breastfeeding and breastfed that baby for over 2 years.
As a result of this experience, she became passionate about helping mothers and babies have the best births and easy breastfeeding. She became a childbirth educator and a doula. We lost contact with each other as the years rolled by, and I moved to another state.
A few months ago, she tracked me down via social media. She reminded me of how I had helped her, and of how that had changed the trajectory of her life. Her baby is a grown-up now, soon to become a parent; my former client is excitedly awaiting the birth of her first grandchild. She also enrolled in the Foundations for Your Community 20-hour breastfeeding course that I’ve been teaching for nearly 20 years.
When folks I have worked with years or decades ago show up in my life, and tell amazing stories such as this mother did, I feel blessed.
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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 started working as a nurse in 1971; for the next 4 years, my favorite places to work were in intensive care and in public health nursing. When I became pregnant with my first baby in 1975, I thought I’d stay. home for 6 weeks, and then go back to work because I imagined that staying home with a baby would be boring.
No one told me that I would fall in love.
I never dreamed that giving birth and breastfeeding would change the trajectory of my life.
My first step into the world of maternity care was to become a certified childbirth educator. My second was to become a lactation consultant. My third.step was to learn craniosacral therapy. After that, I became a certified infant massage instructor and teacher of TummyTime!
Using all these different skills in my clinical practice over 50 years with hundreds of families taught me more than I ever dreamed, as I worked in a variety of settings: clinics, health departments, homes, hospitals and schools. All that led to a career in public speaking, teaching and writing articles, a blog and books.
Audiences and patients alike say that what sets me apart in my work is the kindness, love and patience that I blend with my curiosity and creativity.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) went into effect. Almost overnight, I lost my all my work with families as organizations replaced individual private practices. I didn’t have the ability to compete with companies.
I was not the only one to feel this shock and loss. My girlfriend Donna, a nurse anesthetist, also lost her job. Donna refused to take any work that didn’t pay the hundreds of dollars an hour that she wanted, based on her credentials and experience. As a result, she sat home, earning nothing.
I found a job with a perinatal homecare agency that paid $40/visit (about $10/hour). I chose to work for that agency, instead of staying home earning nothing. As a result, I gained two years of clinical experience, learned lots of new things, kept my energy moving, and was positioned to take more work when the opportunity presented itself.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
My integrity. I’ve never taken a dime from any corporation or industry. My work is an expression of my values.
While this makes me feel comfortable and secure in my work, I didn’t think much about it until recently, when I was interviewing a major player in my field, a woman older than I who is far more prominent in my profession than I will ever be. She told me that she’d never heard anything compromising or negative about me.
That meant a lot!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nikkileehealth.com/
- Instagram: @NikkiLeeHealth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikkileehealth
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-lee-b9387b153/
- Twitter: https://x.com/nikkileehealth
Image Credits
These photographs were taken either by family or clients.