We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shardae Walker-Simpkins . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shardae below.

Hi Shardae, thanks for joining 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 can remember working in the beauty industry and feeling torn between staying in the career that was comfortable and trying something new and totally out of my comfort zone, which was becoming a birth doula. I had already signed up for birth doula training and paid a deposit but worried about the total cost of the program because at that time, my husband and I had just started our lives together and weren’t in the best place financially so I began second guessing whether I should go with it or not.

Some weeks went by, I received a invoice from the doula training company that my final payment was due. Well, the amount that was due that day was the pretty much the same amount we had left in our savings account until our next pay day, so I looked at my husband and said “I can’t do the training, it will put us in a bind.”

My husband looked at me and said “just pay it”, “you’re gonna make that back and some”.

After he reassured me, I ended up using the last of our savings to take the doula training. My experience was amazing and it turned out great, I am now 5 years into being a doula and I’m so glad that I took that huge leap of faith. I am walking in my divine purpose and I honestly can’t see myself doing anything else. I am also grateful to my husband for seeing something in me that at the time, didn’t see in myself and for pushing me past fear, doubt, and insecurity.

Shardae, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Shardae, a wife and mom of 3, also the owner of “Boho Mama The Doula” birth services.

Before becoming a doula, I worked in the beauty industry doing lash extensions for 10 years. I remember in that last year feeling unhappy, unfulfilled, and ready to change the course of my life but wasn’t quite sure how. I had a client who was expecting a baby come in for a lash fill, and as I began to do her lashes she began to tell me that she had hired a birth doula to assist her throughout pregnancy. She went into detail about the role of a doula, and I instantly became intrigued because I had helped women in pregnancy and postpartum my entire young adult life but didn’t know there was a name for it.
After she left, I began researching and immediately knew that was what I was supposed to be doing so I signed up for doula training and the rest was history.

I am a birth doula and herbalist. I provide physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional support to pregnant women throughout their pregnancy and also in the laboring/birthing space. I hold their hand the entire time while educating them on statistics, preparing their bodies for labor, and solutions to their health concerns through herbal fix.

I am most proud of my ability to build solid relationships with my clients and their families. I know that it’s not easy trusting someone and allowing them to get close especially if you are someone who has dealt with trauma in the past, I am forever grateful for all of the organic connections made throughout this journey. By the end we all become family.

Having a doula is not a trend or a luxury. Having a doula is an experience. Before hiring a doula, be sure to research the role of a doula and all that he/she will add to your journey, understand the difference between a doula and a therapist because it’s totally different. We can provide insight on some things but we aren’t therapist.

Also search within yourself to be sure that you are open and ready to an experience with a doula. You can’t come guarded, if you come guarded, you cheat yourself out of the doula experience. You miss out on the journey.

If you’re on the fence about hiring a doula, just do it! Find the best doula for you! Come ready, open, and educated on what a doula is and you will not regret the journey.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Transparency, Authenticity, and the peaceful aura that God has blessed me with. People dig transparency.
People love real.
People gravitate to what feels like home.

I knew as soon as I became a doula that I wanted to be like myself and no one else.
I wanted to stay in my own lane.
I wanted to share my journey in life as a doula, mom, wife, and woman.
I think sharing every aspect of who I am has helped build my reputation in this industry.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Social media and hashtags have been the most effective for me in growing my clientele. Posting my journey as a doula and sharing things and moments approved by my clients. Also hashtags in every post and story has lead a lot of clients to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Bohomamathedoula