When your career is in birth work, you can feel like you’re on call all the time, but for Lindsey Eden Bartell, that’s just what comes with the job. While the unexpected and unknowns are always happening for Lindsey as a doula and birth photographer, she knew during her first time photographing a birth that this was what she was meant to do. Listen in as Lindsey shares how she’s built her business as a doula and birth photographer, what it looks like to balance the roles during a birth, and how she’s not only priced her services, but also found a way to have balance in her life as well.
The Business-First Creatives Podcast is brought to you by CRM and Dubsado expert Colie James. Join Colie each week as she discusses how to build a business that brings you joy and a paycheck! From business advice with fellow entrepreneurs to sharing automation tips and tricks, Colie and her guests are sharing industry trends and resources, along with a little bit of sarcasm.
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Guest Bio:
With a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Photography and a Minor in Art History, Lindsey has always been known to have a camera in hand or near by. It wasn’t till the birth of her two spunky kiddos that she became passionate about all things pregnancy, birth, parenthood and postpartum. She believes strongly in cultivating a safe and trusting relationship with all of her clients resulting in a bond that encourages comfort, trust and love. The images that she is able to create in that safe nurturing space are deeply powerful and healing for many lifetimes to come.
If you’ve tried setting up your Dubsado account, yet aren’t actually utilizing all of the features it offers, I want to invite you to check out The CRM Blueprint. My course includes templates for all of the forms, emails, and workflows that you need to get paid in one easy step. Ready to maximize your use of Dubsado, enroll in The CRM Blueprint today! Use the code PODCAST for 10% off.
Here are the highlights…
[:52] Meet Lindsey
[1:01] Doula & Birth Photography
[2:49] How Lindsey Got Into Doula Work
[7:48] How Lindsey Schedules and Has a Life
[13:26] Prioritizing Services for Clients
[16:02] Self-Care for Birth Photographers
[20:02] Pricing for Birth Photography
[25:38] Outsourcing in Business
[33:52] Biggest Fuck Up in Business
Mentioned in this Episode
Connect with Lindsey
Website: lindseyedenphotography.com
Instagram: instagram.com/lindsey_eden_photography
Facebook: facebook.com/lindseyedenphotography
Pinterest: pinterest.com/eden_photo
Vimeo: vimeo.com/edenphotography
Review the Transcript:
Colie: Hello, and welcome back to the Business First Creatives Podcast. Guys, I’m gonna kick this interview off with a few jokes about the person that I’m interviewing today. Guys, this is attempt number three. Attempt number three to do what I think is going to be an amazing podcast interview. I am here with Lindsay Bartell.
She is a fabulous birth photographer and doula based right here in the Denver metro area, and she is yet another local guest that I have never hugged in person. Lindsay, how are you doing this morning?
Lindsey: I’m doing good. I can’t believe we’ve never hugged in person. I
feel like I know. you.
Colie: I know. But let’s talk about the fact that guys, this interview was first scheduled on January 27th, which is over four months ago. So you know, Lindsay’s a birth worker and that’s why I invited her onto this podcast. But we had to reschedule twice because Lindsay ended up at a birth. So Lindsay, tell me about yourself.
How did you get into the birth photography doula world?
Lindsey: I just have to say that it’s the birth gods that laugh down upon us when you schedule anything. I think there’s bumper stickers and t-shirts that say, unless I’m at a birth, so you can commit unless I’m at a birth.
Colie: Yeah,
Lindsey: I came into things a little bit differently than, most birth workers. I, my degree is in photography.
My passion has always revolved around the arts, and I’ve always had a camera in my hand or been wanting to create or build something. And uh, so that’s what my degree is in and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with it. So I stepped away for a bit, got married, had kids, and once I was having kids, I actually became very passionate in.
All things postpartum, breastfeeding pregnancy, sort of backwards. I like really became fascinated with all things postpartum and attachment parenting and thought I might go into the realm of lache league breast, lactation consulting. And then when I was pregnant with my second, I had moved to Denver and I discovered that birth photography was a thing and which is just blown away that I could potentially combine these two passions into one and make a career out of it.
And it was just one of those moments that I don’t know that a lot of people get to have. That’s just this aha moment, like where you just are. Like I, all of the things that I had done in my past. Like just made sense all of a sudden, right? Like they just all of a sudden aligned into this one thing, so
Colie: No, that’s amazing and I actually didn’t know that you had a photography degree, so that makes it make even more sense. So the photography came first. How did you move into doula work? Because I know during the pandemic a lot of birth workers, got. Doula CER got certified in being a doula just so that they could get into the hospitals, but that’s not you.
So how did you get into doula work?
Lindsey: My first birth I just was in that space and I just knew that I needed to do more, I wanted to be more involved than just quote unquote, a fly on the wall or just a documentarian. This innate. Power and wisdom that we have as birthing people is just it’s just, it’s truly magical.
And I just, I wanted to be able to, I knew inside that I needed to go deeper into that support place. I remember I was at my first home birth and I was documenting the mama who was in the tub. She was leaning over the edge. And she was like reaching out with her hands. And my intuition was just like, grab her hand.
And I wasn’t sure if I was permitted to cross that threshold, that sacred space, but I just had to listen to that intuition. And I reached out and I held her hand and she, you know, held on for life. And and then I grabbed my other, I used my other hand and picked up my camera and documented myself holding her hand.
And I just like, I’m getting chills talking about it now, because it was just like, I was like, oh. I gotta be in this, I gotta be in this space. So that was the moment.
Colie: And I think it’s really interesting because I’m pretty sure that it was at the Birth Becomes Youth symposium last year where I heard you talk about the fact that when you go into the birth space, you al you really don’t wanna go in just as a photographer anymore. You like being like within the birth space and entering what you call that sacred space to, guide them through it as well.
And so, I thought that was a really interesting perspective. So what does your business offerings look like now? I mean, We’ve got birth photography, and how does doula services come into it? And do you still take clients that are only birth photography clients?
Lindsey: Oh, absolutely. I almost see them as easier. It’s like, oh, this is a walk in the park. Doula support is really intense. There’s a ton of emotional space that you have to hold for your clients, and not that I don’t hold those for my photography only clients, it’s absolutely there.
It’s just in a very different way. You know, I’ve not been invited to be in that role So I respect that boundary. There’s still emotional space, but uh, in a different way. So yeah, no what I don’t offer is doula without photography.
Colie: There you go.
Lindsey: So when I sat down to build my business and create packages, I had to ask myself what was important for me, what was my passion and my.
Heart saying, and I at the time felt it was very important for me to have that photography piece, that artistic piece. And so I built my packages accordingly. I don’t offer doula without photography, and I, I’ve. Done this now for almost seven years or seven years, I have realized they almost aren’t separate pieces now, right?
They almost come hand in hand. I really feel that the beauty of being a, a a doula is this ability to offer intellectual, educational, know, informational resource. Piece, a sort of brainy element. I get to offer a physical piece where I’m physically present, creating that relationship and trust and physical hip squeezes and being there with you in the birth space, I’m able to create this sort of emotional relationship and then that some people could define as spiritual or not.
And then the. Photography provides this, the final sense to me, which is the visual piece, and to be able to create these. This imagery where people can see themselves in their power, in their vulnerability, these juxtaposing feelings and emotions falling in love with their partners all over again and the way they didn’t know was possible.
Seeing their baby, that first moment. When you’re in it, it’s a blur. So there’s a lot of things happening. So to be able to have this imagery, it’s healing not just immediately at postpartum. It’s healing and soul reviving to for years and years to come, right?
It’s like photographs are like, why? And they get better with age. The further away you get from the time it happens, the more valuable they are.
Colie: Okay, so let’s talk about, it’s not the elephant in the room because I started this whole conversation telling people that this is the third time that we rescheduled this. Lindsay, how do you have a life? Because, you know, I take birth like very rarely, only for my current clients, only when I super love them, because I feel an incredibly high level of anxiety every time I’m on call because I don’t wanna miss it.
But also like I feel like I can’t live my normal life. If I have a client in Fort Collins, which for the listening audience, if you don’t know, that’s about 45 minutes north of me, I feel like I can’t go to Denver for brunch because I will be too far away from where my client might be delivering the baby.
And so like, how do you balance this? So first of all, what does a month workload look like for you? Like how many clients are you taking per month?
Lindsey: Well, I’m gonna remind you, friend, and I’m gonna play the joke end on you too, that if you recall, our second cancellation was because you were potentially gonna be at a birth as well, so
Colie: Yes, that is true.
Lindsey: Yeah, I take about, my number is like three. It feels like a really good number for me, and since I take both photo and doula clients, there’s a lot more touch points.
And so if I have three doula clients on my books for one month, I’ll probably cap it there. But if I have three photo only clients, I’d probably take a doula client on because. I have a little bit more flexibility in my schedule and the time allotted. How to balance all of it, I think the more you do it, the more it just becomes part of your lifestyle and it becomes less Nerve wracking, right?
Like you just get comfortable in that space. And certainly when I first started, there was periods of time where I felt like I was trapped in my home. Cuz I felt like I couldn’t go too far. But I just, you just have to continue living your life and trust like there’s a ton of trust, like I have these affirmations that I say on the way to, people have heard me say this before, but where I’m on my way to the birth and may I share them with you.
Colie: Yes, you may.
Lindsey: So I say I am a badass birth photographer in doula. I’m good at what I do. I provide for my family, and I will arrive at this birth on time.
And it helps me. It helps me not speed. I don’t wanna get pulled over. It helps me calm my nerves and come into my body and shift gears a little bit and And know that, it’s all gonna happen the way it’s supposed to. If I miss the birth, I miss the birth. If I’m there early, I’m there early, and I turn around and come back, I just have to trust.
Certainly there’s times where we’ve had to say for me it’s like going down to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo or something, and I’m like we can’t do that this time, but maybe next week we can. I think having a really supportive family. My partner, my husband is incredible.
He supports. Me because he sees that it’s something that fe feeds my heart and my soul. And and in turn then, you know, nourishes our family. and then also at the same time, it’s important to set boundaries. And I had to discover that the hard way. I just, when you start your own business, you.
Kind of dive in the deep end and just I want all the business. I want all the clients. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. And then all of a sudden you find yourself and you’re like, oh crap. I have a lot of clients and I’m busy and I didn’t set aside time for myself or my family, and. And then because of the nature of the work, I had to wait until I, I had to wait several months before I could carve off time.
And so doing that the opposite way as I move into each new year and saying, okay, these are important months for my family, June, and my kids both are born in, so I try to take June off or light in December. Now that my kids are older. I can’t tell them that Christmas is tomorrow, not today. And so we protect December my husband’s birthday is that month, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and so we protect that month now too. So setting boundaries and having a supportive family, really. And s a network of course, too, of supportive birth workers to help in the event that I have a sick kiddo or I’m at another birth, cuz that happens.
Colie: And it does happen. It does happen that you’re at one birth and potentially one of your other three clients, or even a client from the next month goes into labor early. I think what I figured out after you and I had a conversation, I called you, I didn’t know you. I was looking for a backup for a birth that I was potentially taking, and I think what I realized after I booked that birth, And then didn’t end up shooting it because they ended up getting induced on the one day that I was not available.
Long story. But what I figured out after that was that you and I are in very different places. Like I am only taking this occasional birth, and so it really does feel like when I’m on call, my life stops versus, for you, it’s just an everyday part of life, your business, your family, and you are doing this for multiple clients at a time and I finally had a come to Jesus moment, if you will.
I was like, okay, so am I gonna do this and take more clients and make this my life or am I just going to do this occasionally? I. When like I have this one really special client that I feel like I can’t say no to but I’m always fascinated by, cuz like we all need really strong boundaries in our business regardless of what you do.
But I feel like birth workers really need boundaries because, you know, everything overlaps for you guys. So you’ve got. The doula side, and you’ve got the birth side for the photography, but then you also do videos. So Lindsay, how do you add that into the mix? Cuz that just feels like a lot.
Lindsey: Yeah, so I never guarantee all three services for one client. I know that there’s people out there that do, and that’s awesome, but I never, for if a client hires me for doula and photography my understanding is that those are their top two priorities, and if they express interest in videography I’ll, I’ll tell them.
If I’m at your birth the day of your birth and you guys are rocking and rolling and you don’t need me to be super HandsOn, then I can step back. We, and I can be more in that documentary role. But if you are needing me to be more hands-on, which is why you’ve hired me, then I won’t be able to produce enough video clips to.
Feel confident in delivering a full product to you. So if I’m able to deliver a full product, I’ll tell you after the fact, you’re not obligated to buy it. You can, you don’t have to, you have, it’s a trust-based relationship. And that trust goes both ways. So most people are really confident, you know, comfortable with that.
Yeah, and I think I just, we just talked to people about what their priorities are, which one’s most important to you, the documentation, the support, and yeah. And then I think the bulk of the video work comes in post anyways it’s pretty easy to toggle back and forth between photo and video.
It’s the production afterwards that is it’s a really interesting Peace. It’s you have to be like in the zone, where you can’t force creativity to happen. And
Colie: there’s no asking your client to do something for you when they’re about to birth a baby. I mean, That just doesn’t happen.
Lindsey: I was watching, we were watching Better Call Saul or Breaking Bad. The cinematography in those, if you’ve ever seen him, is phenomenal. One of those episodes last night had a truck going down the road, but the way that they filmed it was to get like this super macro closeup shot of the shattered glass rattling in the back of the bed of the truck.
And it was just, and like you knew it, you could feel it. And I was like, God, those details. Like what am I missing? How do I get that in birth? And my husband was like, what if you like got a clip of them putting on their slippers, and you’re on the floor. And he just got this and I was like, yeah, but like I have to like know that’s gonna happen.
I can’t be like, wait, can you stop and do that again so I can lay down on the ground and get my camera? So I, It’s definitely a different kind of way of, of shooting for sure. And then creating in post is unique. Yeah. I don’t know. I like to have my hands in lots of different little things.
I love working with Birth Becomes You and creating those projects for them and I’m really involved, I think, in the community and networking and just staying involved with as much as I can that all things birth.
Colie: And that’s really important in order for you to continue to offer the services, cuz like you said, like you feel really confident in the people that could potentially be on call for you in case you have a. Sick kid in case you know a client goes into labor and you’re already at a different birth.
It is important to have community. I don’t even think that I could think of another business offering where it’s more important than it is for birth workers. But let’s flip the script slightly. Let’s talk about self-care. Because I know that you are someone that is very into self-care, and you’ve already talked about how you take the month of June off and the month of December off.
Are there any other things that you do for yourself in order to preserve yourself, to give all that you have to give to your clients when you are with them for their services?
Lindsey: There’s so much more that I could do really, to be completely honest with you. I think that, I don’t know if it’s just a. I don’t know, as women, as mothers, as humans, I’m not sure, but we tend to put ourselves last, or some of us do. And I’m certainly guilty of that. And so I could be better, but yeah, some of the things that are important to me are getting outside, getting my hands dirty.
I love gardening. I’m planting, I have house plants galore. And I love the sunshine on my skin. And being with my kids and playing with with them, I get a ton of energy by being near water. So that’s a little bit tricky here in Colorado, but I love going to the beach. Being with my husband, live music.
Those are things that like really make me feel good. And just, continuing to create and being with other like-minded people and doing things that aren’t necessarily birthy but still creative. And that feeds my soul a lot too. I should probably do a lot more in the physical realm of things.
I love yoga, but don’t do it enough. And yeah.
Colie: No, all of that sounds amazing, Lindsay.
Lindsey: thanks. I think we can be really hard on ourselves, but, I think it’s, it is really important. It, we have to, we are expected in this space to provide, to hold space for the birthing person in a physical, like I said, in a physical and emotional way, but also being expected to be an artist at the same time.
That’s a lot of. Sides to have to balance. And it takes, you need to come in you have to come into that when you’re offering to do this for somebody. It’s important that you don’t take it lightly and that you come into their space clear and ready to go. And that, requires good sleep.
And,
Colie: That is the one time that I get good sleep, Lindsay, when I’m on call, I tell you what, I sleep like no one’s business at like 8 30, 9 o’clock on the dot. My daughter’s like, mom, why are you going to bed? I’m like, Nope. I’m on call. Like I can’t stay up until one o’clock and take the chance that a client calls me at two 30 after I’ve just fallen asleep.
Now I’m expected to, get up and grab my bag and drive, you know, potentially up to an hour from my house to get to the birthing space. Like I just can’t. So I joke around sometimes I should just tell myself that I’m on call because I get really good sleep when I’m on call. Lindsay, I wanna talk about money.
I wanna talk about money because I know that you are very passionate about making sure that, and I don’t wanna say that we’re charging our worth because What we do. What you do as a birth worker is priceless. But I don’t think that people really think about the fact that we do everything and more than a wedding photographer does.
And people expect to pay a very high price tag for their wedding photography, but they don’t equally expect to pay that. For someone to come and document their birth. When you’re on call, you have no idea when the person’s gonna deliver, how long their delivery process is gonna be, and you can’t, it’s not ethical to charge someone more just because their labor took longer.
How do you determine your prices? What was your rationale for how much you charge for each of your packages?
Lindsey: It is the big question, isn’t it? When I first started doing sort of market research and, and, and found out that the average doula was charging. Eight 50 for birth. And granted this was seven years ago, but still, I was just shocked. And I said well, I’m not doing that. I’m just, I am.
That is not for me. I’m not going to leave my home pay for a babysitter. Do these things at that rate, and I’m gonna charge more. And as I built my packages I probably overdo it, but I, tried to do value add, right? So what you’re getting from me is going to be more expensive than other people.
But what I’m bringing to the table is also different. And and I really focus. My conversations with prospective clients around instilling the value in the product and and identifying that kind of emotional hook and finding out like, because I think that. We will all shift our budgets to accommodate our priorities.
Uh, We do it regularly throughout life, whether we’re aware that we’re doing it or not. And it’s not always the, that the money isn’t there, it’s just that we have. Prioritized it differently, and if we make some adjustments, then we can do the things we want. Maybe like going to Disney for you is important.
Colie: mean,
Lindsey: And so you have adjusted just
Colie: I have adjusted. Yes. No. And this year it’s a lot less because of other expenses. Like this coming year, we are prioritizing Chloe’s education. And so I’m about to pay a very hefty bill for her new school and there will be no more Disney trips after her birthday. That’s just a reality.
But you know, As much as I love Disney, I love my kids’ education more. And so that was just a shift that I had to make. I’m sorry, we went off on a tangent. Continue
Lindsey: No, but that’s the point, right? That’s the, that’s exactly my point. And Disney’s not cheap. And the school and the education’s not cheap, But it’s important to your family, to your lifestyle, to your future. And and sometimes that’s valued by the memories that you’re creating at Disney.
Sometimes it’s valued because your daughter’s gonna receive an education that she’ll be able to use for the rest of her life. Both of those are equally important for very different reasons. And so I really try to communicate that with my clients when we’re talking. And the price tag then doesn’t become, Such a shock, and it is sad that it’s a shock when people are willing to drop, 10, 20, do thousand dollars on a wedding photographer and not on the birth of their child. And I recognize I’m not trying to be insensitive to the fact that. There are other expenses involved with having a child.
I recognize that fully. but I do believe that the way that you feel bringing your child into this earth the way that you’re able to reflect back upon it, that has long lasting effects. And the services that I provide are. Those are some soul-based services that are, some people could call luxury, but other people could call necessity for healthy, happy lifestyles.
Colie: Yes.
Lindsey: I don’t know if that answers your question, but
Colie: It does. It does. And I think for myself it, because again, we all value different things and I don’t know if you, I don’t think you know this about me, but I got married in a park for $80. Like I didn’t have a huge wedding. I’ve been married for over 22 years now. Very happy, very good in my decision, but.
I think what I sometimes struggle with is that people expect the high price tag with a wedding. Now you can totally do your wedding photography, on a lower end within a budget, but I think that it’s the expectation that most people don’t bat an eye when someone spends like a lot of money on their wedding photography, their wedding film, those kinds of things, but they don’t have that same.
Sense of understanding when someone says that they dropped five, 10 grand on their birth. Like I, I just personally don’t, and I think that I, it’s not even that I’m a mother, it’s not even that I’m a photographer, it’s just that I see those two things as both very valuable to different people. And so I sometimes get just a little perturbed when I see people judging people for one and not the other yeah.
Lindsey: Yeah. And everybody has to start somewhere. I certainly, have charged $500 for a birth and when I first started, and I offer, discounted rates for the clients that I feel come to me and really respect the value, of what we’re offering. And I have built that into my budget so that.
I can offer those, those discounts to people and I’m, there’s ways I, we also are very accommodating and in finding ways to make it easier for the family to, to, to budget, payment plans and gift registries. We don’t need a thousand onesies and receiving blankets. Ask for.
Colie: Sure don’t. Half them used,
Lindsey: I know ask for 50 bucks towards your photography or your doula, and that means a lot, that stays with you forever.
Colie: Okay, let’s continue to talk about the business, but in particular what do you outsource in your business? Do you outsource anything? And literally you outsource the session if you need to because, you get caught up with a sick kidder. But like beyond that, what do you just outsource in your business on a regular basis?
Lindsey: I am a control freak, which is
Colie: I do know that.
Lindsey: which is hilarious because when people were like, wait, you’re doing birth and you can’t control that are you okay? Like actually it’s really nice balance to, to give away some of that control. But so I only just. Started outsourcing. And I am using a wonderful gal named Hannah that is helping me with my social media.
I do not know why I am so hung up on it, but I just get so stuck in this cycle of. I don’t know, self doubt, self criticism. This image isn’t worth sharing and these words are stupid. And so then I just don’t post. And and I do know that when I post, I get inquiries and people like to, I love sharing the stories.
And so I’ve been working with Hannah and she is amazing. And I just feel like a better person and a lighter person with my, job like that is happening and. I don’t have to do it.
Colie: And
Lindsey: It’s been great.
Colie: If it matters to you, I have been noticing the uptick in your Instagram posts and
Lindsey: you.
Colie: And it’s funny, I was interviewing someone else for my podcast recently and I didn’t realize that they were still editing all of their own images. And I just thought that was so interesting that like the first thing that she did was hire a virtual assistant to do like other stuff.
And she, at this point in her business, I think she’s six or seven years in, she’s still editing her own images. But like she has an entire team of people who do other things. So I just want to reiterate now that Lindsay has said that her first outsource was her social media. That guys, just because I tell you, or someone else tells you that the editing of your images is like the low hanging fruit.
Guys, the low hanging fruit is whatever is taking up the most brain space for you. So for Lindsay, that was, she wasn’t posting on social media because of the self criticism. And now that she’s hired someone, guys, she’s posting all the time and it’s great. So you just gotta figure out what you feel comfortable outsourcing in your business and go with it.
Lindsey: You know, I’m, I mean, absolutely you and your product, your service. Like, Doing everything on, on Dubsado and getting that stuff automated has also tremendously helped. And I would, that’s outsourcing. And I’m using a client management system to help me get some of those automated things out that do those things, take time and it has totally changed our business, so thank you.
Colie: Lindsay, I really do appreciate that and guys, I did not pay her to say that, but I really love it when I see business owners who are thriving and have been using a CRM for quite some time pop into my course and still get value because that is a question that I get all the time, Lindsay, is no, I’ve been using doto for years.
Like I don’t really think I need your course. Like I just need a couple things. And then people pop in there and they just really don’t understand all of the other things that they could be doing. And it is outsourcing. I make a joke somewhere on my sales page that having Dubsado is like paying a virtual assistant $40 for the month instead of $40 an hour.
Like you really do get a high return on investment, it’s not for everyone, and I understand that, but it is life-changing if you embrace it.
Lindsey: is, and I’ve had clients come back to me and say I really appreciate your communication, your flow. It was easy. You stayed in contact with us and you know it, they feel that they’ve experienced it and it makes a difference.
Colie: Yeah, it does. Okay. So we’ve talked about outsourcing. What was the best investment that you made in your business overall?
Lindsey: Wow.
Colie: I know
Lindsey: I did, yeah, probably at the very beginning I hired a business coach that helped me create those affirmations that I repeated to you at the beginning of the call. Because I think as artists and as. Small business owners. There is the imposter syndrome that sneaks in there. And for some people it’s stronger than others and sometimes it ebbs and flows.
And for me it was pretty darn strong. And I was butting up against my own boundaries and my own walls, I guess is a better word. And so she helped me identify what those were and how to tackle ’em. And. Face them. And I think working with her really shifted my perspective and myself, and that it’s I’m allowed to be successful and I will provide for my family and having trust in that and investing in my myself, is that a selfish answer?
Colie: no, it’s not a selfish answer Lindsay, and I can’t believe that you are the first person to mention it in this way to where I could come back and I could say, I will say from the end of being a business coach. And actually like hiring a business coach as well. I don’t think that people realize that a lot of the time, what you’re looking for in a business coach is not their recipe for success.
It’s affirmation that you are doing what you need to be doing and the confidence to go forward. Like I really do think that is a piece that people really overlook because we all have a little bit of imposter syndrome and it’s one thing. For me to ask like my business bestie, you know, like, I did this.
What do you think of it? I mean, That’s one perspective, to have them tell you, oh no, it’s great, but you’re always questioning whether or not they told you that because you’re friends or whether or not, they actually have the qualifications to tell you that you’re doing it right. Like those kinds of things.
And when it comes to actually hiring a business coach, you are hopefully hiring someone who is further along with you, is where you aspire to be. But them giving you a recipe is probably not the best thing that they’re going to give you. The best thing that they are going to give you is a pat on the back and say, you’re doing great.
And either continue to do what you’re doing or, giving you some suggestions. But I feel like sometimes people think that they’re gonna go to a business coach and this business coach is just, gonna transform your entire business and change it from top to bottom. And quite often that’s not what anybody needs from a business coach.
Do you agree?
Lindsey: I do. And I also don’t think there’s, there’s never going to be one formula or equation or recipe because A, as humans, as artists, as business owners, we should always be evolving and growing and changing, and. So how could one formula be applied to, over top of all of that? So I, yeah, I absolutely found that and have tried to take it.
And I would say the second piece of investment for me has been networking and connecting with the community locally and sharing that. Enthusiasm and willingness to sit down and spend an hour or an hour and a half of my time with a brand new photographer that is like, I don’t know what to do or where to start.
That doesn’t give me money immediately, right? That does not return investment instantly. I’m not getting a, I’m not invoicing them for my time. But in the long run, in the grand scheme of my business, it has proven to be Very lucrative because I have inserted myself into the birthing community as somebody I hope that is known to be.
Helpful and willing to support and encouraging and available and interested and genuinely caring and and that, that does have a long-term effect. And so I would say that’s my second best investment.
Colie: Okay. And I don’t want you to shortchange yourself, Lindsay. I mean, You said how it affects your business, but anything that we can do to bring the birth community up as a whole. Affects us all. If we can get the world to value what we do as birth work more it, it does really benefit all of us, no matter what level of birth photography or doula business you’re at, the more education that we all get, the better product that we’re all putting out, the more value the outside community will see in what we do and what we produce.
Lindsey: Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
Colie: All right, Lindsay, here’s my last question. So are you ready? It’s the question that I ask everyone, what’s your biggest fuck up in your business? What did you learn from it, and how did you grow?
Lindsey: Whew.
Oh man, I’ve, I’ve made some mistakes. I would have to say it’s the boundaries. It’s that moment I shared with you earlier where I found myself, I looked at my calendar and I was like, oh crap. I am booked. It’s January and I am booked until August. I have, I’m coming out of 6 or eight months with not having any time off, and I’m looking forward to six or eight months without having any time off, and I’m tired and I made a mistake.
I. I over overdid it. And that’s not
healthy for anyone. It’s not healthy for me, my body, my family my ability to pro, produce and return what I’ve promised to be the best I can be. I was tired and I was making mistakes and I was missing deadlines and. That would have to be my biggest mistake
Colie: Yeah, but
Lindsey: and how I fixed it.
I did, I said, I am I took off three months. I stopped my calendar that year and I said, I will not take anyone for three months. And I took off three solid months and I tried to recover and And then I, when I, before I started the next calendar year, I sat down and I blocked off times and I said, I will not work during these times.
Colie: Good job, Lindsay. I’m clapping my hands at you. Lindsey if the listening audience wants to learn more about you, your services, where can they find you on the internet?
Lindsey: Oh, thanks. Lindsey eden photography.com. I’m on Instagram as Lindsey underscore Eden underscore photography. And same thing on Facebook, Lindsay Eden Photography.
Colie: Lindsay, thank you so much for joining me. I mean, This was a highly anticipated conversation
Lindsey: I know.
Colie: been four plus months in, in the running, but I am so glad that we were able to sit down and chat about this today. Guys, that’s it for this episode. See you next time.
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