We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Whitney Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Whitney, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

When you reposition your thinking of what successful looks like, you’ll realize you never failed. As I’ve grown in my business, I reminisced on what I believed to be my greatest successes and failures. The hard part was actually finding any failures. I say that not to be arrogant, but in realization that even my failures contributed to my success.

If I were going to sum up the three biggest successes and what I would recommend to others, the first would be community. Community has been the backbone of my business and what has helped me climb higher than I would alone. The second would be becoming knowledgeable on the business side of your business. While it is so much fun doing your craft, in order to stay afloat, you need to know the not-so-fun stuff. The third…would be to stay humble. It is very easy to get caught up in the throes of financial success, but always remember where that money comes from. Humbleness, customer service and integrity will get you so much further than arrogance.

Whitney, 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’m Whitney! I’m the business owner behind East Layne Births. What started as a photography business has quickly grown into something I would have never imagined. I am a Christian and holistic birth doula, birth photographer/videographer, and child birth educator based out of Flower Mound. I specialize in moms who are wanting VBAC’s, are first time moms, have had previous birth trauma, or who are having twins. I found a love serving mothers and families from all walks of life. Families who find me typically are of the Christian faith because that is something I believe is found in every birth. I believe every birth is Holy Spirit breathed and is nothing short of a miracle every time a baby takes their first breath. I am also of the belief that birth is not a medical emergency. We have been birthing our babies naturally since the beginning of time and women are now being instructed that their bodies are broken (which is inherently not true).

The thing I am most proud of in my business is that each family I get to serve, I put my all into. I make sure that every step of the way, they feel heard and listened to. That they understand what’s going on at all times. And that they have full body autonomy when it comes to them and their baby.

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

The most effective way of growing my clientele has been showing up consistently. Whether that means consistently updating my website, posting on one social media outlet, going to in person gatherings and meeting like minded business owners…all of it has contributed to business growth.

Another way that has helped is creating a great client experience. When you create an experience that your clients can’t help but rave about it to their friends…it means you’re doing something right.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I moved to Texas 4 years ago, I had started my business from scratch. At that time, it was definitely very side-hustley. When I started to gain momentum, COVID hit and that year was incredibly slow. However, that year, I worked harder than I had before to start building more and more connections. One of my biggest achievements was becoming a doula. I felt that need from stories I had been reading about medical malpractice and wanted moms to be as supported as possible even in the throes of the unknown. In 2021, my business really took off and that’s when I transitioned into full time. Now full time for me looks a lot different than full time for others. Mine is based on how many clients I take per month and everything that entails. Today, I’m fully booked out for months at a time and it is such a blessing. I never imagined my little side hustle becoming a full blown business, but here I am!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eastlaynebirths.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/eastlaynebirths
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/eastlaynephotography