We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Priya Lad. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Priya below.
Priya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Brave Journey Doula Services was a business idea that came from my passion of nursing and being a mother. I know how three boys and my birth journey for all three of them were completely different. I started my training as. a doula when I was pregnant with my first son. I had been a nurse for many years and had specialized in pediatrics however, I had a passion for labor and delivery. I wanted to find a way to help mothers in a more emotional and natural way where I can help them have a special birth journey. My son was born a few months after my training was complete and it was one of the hardest experiences. I had him at 36 weeks and he was in the NICU for just over 2 weeks. During my birth I had labored for 19 hours and had only dilated 1 cm. I was pressured into a cesarean, didn’t get to hold him for 2 hrs postpartum and was on so many medications that is didn’t remember nor enjoy the experience. From my experience I learned how important it is to provide support to others so they have a more pleasant experience and to help educate them on interventions and medical knowledge so they can make informed decisions for themselves. My business was named after my son Ari; because he really gave me the strength to try something out of my comfort and to go for what I love to do, which is helping others. Ari in Hindi means; brave and his strength and big heart to this day is the biggest reason why I love what I do. Today I know have a successful business where I support my clients as there doula and childbirth educator, I am a mother to my three boys and I work at a OB/GYN office as a triage nurse helping women and expecting mothers.
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
I am originally from Toronto, Canada and have now been in Dallas for 6 years. I completed nursing school in Canada and moved here and continued working as a pediatric nurse. The last year and a half I have switched to OB/GYN world as a triage nurse. The Doula industry comes from my passion for working with other to help support them in a non medical way. I love to provide more emotional and physical support to help my clients through their pregnancy, labor and postpartum journey. I feel like the postpartum period is the hardest part for my clients and where they feel that they have the least support from their providers. I personally check in with my clients 6 months post delivery to make sure they have the support and the right help for things they may need after birth. I know personally postpartum was when I needed the most support and to give that back to my clients now is something I love to do. Also now with my childbirth classes I love to use my knowledge to help educate families to make informed decisions and to help them feel prepared for their birth and what comes after. My class is tailor to just that one family so they can feel comfortable to talk about questions or concerns they have and be open about how they feel. Getting personal with my clients is something that I feel is the most important. A lot of my clients have become great friends and to this day I still check in with many of them to see how they are doing.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Starting my business wasn’t easy. I had no idea where to start, who to market with, how to get the word out about what I do. My business really took me out of my shell to go do events and speak to other and get out of my comfort zone. Today I am so thankful for those whom I have met and share what I offer to the community so I can continously help others today.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Facebook and word of mouth has been the best source of business for me. I did a lot of basic marketing in the beginning and didn’t see many results but once I started to meet other business owners and get out int he community to meet others my business has been more successful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bravejourneydoulas.wixsite.com/bravejourney
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bravejourneydoulaservices/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bravejourneydoulaservices/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRBOKbD4B0O-w3nrdp5X3Jg