What I’d Do Differently If I Were Starting My Doula Business Again
If I had the chance to go back and start my doula business again, I’d definitely do a few things differently.
Not because I have regrets or think I messed it all up, but because time and experience have a way of showing you what really matters… and what truly lasts.
When I first began, I said “Yes!” to everything. Every inquiry. Every birth. Every family who needed help.
That’s what most of us do when we’re building something we care deeply about. We want to serve. We want to learn. We want to make a difference.
But at some point, the long nights and unpredictable schedules start to take a toll. You’re running from one family to the next, living on coffee and adrenaline, wondering how to keep saying yes without burning out.
That’s when I learned one of the most important lessons of my career:
Your business needs a cycle, not just a client list.
What It Means to Build a Cycle
A cycle means there’s a rhythm to your work, a natural flow between client intake, care, and income.
It’s what allows you to keep supporting families without constantly starting from scratch or relying solely on new inquiries to pay the bills.
In practical terms, a sustainable business cycle for doulas includes three key parts:
Connection: how new families find you and start to build trust.
Care: how you serve them during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Continuation: how your services, classes, or resources create ongoing value and revenue- even between births.
When you have all three, your business feeds itself. You can serve deeply and sustainably.
The Turning Point for Me
My own turning point came when I started using classes as part of that rhythm.
My 4th Trimester Fitness® Method classes became a natural entry point; a way for expecting families to connect with me early, learn practical movement tools, and build trust long before birth.
From there, many of those families became my doula clients. They already knew my teaching style, felt supported, and had confidence in my approach.
It wasn’t just marketing, it was relationship-building that sustained itself.
And because classes brought new clients in consistently, I didn’t have to rely on unpredictable referrals or months of feast-or-famine scheduling.
How Classes Create Balance
For doulas, classes don’t replace the heart of your work- they expand it.
They give you structure, stability. and they allow you to serve more families while creating space for yourself.
You can:
Teach group sessions between births for steady income.
Build community among clients who continue referring you.
Establish expertise through education, not exhaustion.
When you build education into your business model, you create breathing room- the kind that allows you to be more present, more grounded, and more effective when you are in the birth room.
Why This Matters
At 4th Trimester Fitness® Method, this philosophy is at the heart of everything we teach.
Our instructor certifications- like Prep4Birth™ and Postpartum Recovery®- exist to help doulas and birth professionals build sustainable, service-driven businesses.
These courses don’t just add another credential to your name; they give you the tools to create meaningful offerings that support families and stabilize your business long-term.
When your work has rhythm, it’s not a hustle… it’s a flow.
A cycle of connection, education, and care that nurtures both your clients and yourself.
The Doula Business I’d Build Today
All of this to say; if I were starting from scratch, I’d build my business with rhythm in mind from the very beginning. Something steady and sustainable enough to grow with me, not drain everything from me.
Not a cycle of hustle and recovery, but one of connection and care.
When your work has flow, you can give deeply without depleting yourself. You can keep showing up for families year after year with energy and purpose, instead of running on fumes.
That’s the kind of business that lasts- and the kind of support our clients deserve.
