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From movie nights to chilly mornings, Minky Couture turns everyday moments into pure comfort. Once you feel it, you'll understand why it's called the original. Best blanket ever. Visit minkycouture.com or a store near you and make this cozy season your softest one yet. Today's Small Business Shout out. We're featuring the Indian Esthetician offering concierge aesthetic services specializing in dermaplanning. It gently removes peach fuzz and dead skin so your products absorb better and your makeup goes on smoother. Check out the Indian Esthetician on Instagram. Welcome to Next on scene. The Human behind the Brand. Jacqueline I'm Jacqueline Zuckerman delauri, award winning publicist, mom and media visionary. I believe visibility isn't just about being seen, it's about being of service. Each week we are going to uncover real stories behind success, the breakthroughs, the heartbreaks and the moments that made you who you are. Because the truth is the more we allow ourselves to be human, the more powerful our impact becomes. This is where visibility meets legacy. This is next on Scene. Welcome to Next on Scene. The human behind the Brand. We are joined today by Erin Carol Manning, founder of General Giraffes Newborn Care and Family Services and a master newborn care specialist. She has spent over 30 years helping families navigate one of the most beautiful and overwhelming seasons of life. Welcoming a newborn Erin welcome to Next on Scene.
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I'm so excited to have you. Thank you, Jackie. I'm so excited to be here.
A
We have so much history together. So like, I'm really excited to dive deep, deeper with you. So if anybody didn't know, like, Erin helped my kids through my postpartum and doula journey. She's our newborn care specialist and I just know the impact that you guys have on babies and toddlers and I was really excited to bring you on to talk about it. So how did you fall into this space?
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How did I into like the Actual newborn care space. Okay, so it really goes back to. I've always been drawn to babies and children. Ever since I was, like, little, my entire family thought I would be going into being a teacher, but because I have a learning disability and traditional schooling was not my thing, I never went that path. But I ended up just falling into taking care of children when I was younger, and it just kept on growing that way. And then probably about 15 years ago or so, I was like, I want something more. I want to do something to change, something to be able to help, like this industry. Because being a nanny in general is an amazing industry that society really should change their. Their view of, because we are literally supporting families and raising these children who are going to the next president, the next doctors, the next Nobel Peace Prize winner, our next teacher, maybe our significant other, whoever they are. So we really, in my view, need to put a lot more, you know, support and value into what a professional child care provider does. And with that, that got me into supporting laws. It got me into being featured on showing how the industry is very valuable in the world. And then it got me into taking a postpartum doula course, which was great. It opened my eyes to a different avenue of this industry. But that certainly wasn't something I truly wanted to do, because it's more about mothering the mother and managing the household, which is awesome, and we really need that, especially in today's world. But I've always been drawn to the baby. So with that, I took a newborn care specialist class. I've taken three actually. And that actually opened up my world to where I am today. And based on that, I've been able to understand how. How adults are based on their childhood and even before when they're in the womb and even as eggs and stuff too. Because how we are shaped based on our lineage really actually shapes us for when we're adults, even into our, like, 90s as well. And people don't realize that, but there's so much that we can do, and especially the first three to, you know, 0 to 3, 0 to 5 is the most prescientable years of our lives that people don't realize that and they don't put a lot of emphasis into it. And it's something that I want to do and be able to help, which also helps shape and change society at large.
A
And I think so. Can we talk also too, about myths? Because I think there are so many myths around. Like, you should be doing this, but really, like, do you have to be doing that? Like, we'll use my daughter as an example. Right. Like, she potentially had like a tongue tie. Right. And initially the know it all thing that most people know is you have to get a release. Right. And you and I have this deep conversation about. And you're like, Jackie, you know, there are other avenues that you could look into. Like, can we talk about just like that, like educating people on those things?
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Yeah, there are a lot of myths about it. There's. I mean, just as you're talking about with the oral dysfunction, it's probably the number one thing that I see that goes undiagnosed. And it's probably the number one thing that babies actually really need help with. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they have to have a release if they have a tie, but they need to have range of motion. And just because a tie, I mean, their tongue sticks out, doesn't mean that they don't have a tie or doesn't mean that they don't have oral dysfunction. And those are some very big myths that are in our industry. You don't have to get them released as we've known in the more education knowledge that we have about them, as you didn't do with either one of your children. But there's also things that can happen as time goes on, as they get older into adult years as well. So it's one of those things where you got to know where your kid is at right now, but you also have to know what is the prolonged term effects. And then you can, you as the parent can make the decision based on all of that with the information you have right then and there in your, in your fingerprints. And that's why I tell parents all the time and I say say it all the time too. I can only give you the information. It is your choice what you do with it.
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But I think also too, you just have this like roster of connections in the network. And so like I think about the therapists you connected me to, like, I think about like the OT people. Like, it really helped my kids so much. Like in the development, my daughter's hitting all her milestones now. Like, it's just been so awesome. So thank you for that.
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You're welcome. I think what we have too, as a myth and what I've spoken about as well, and I've. I've had some blogs on it, is that medical says that, you know, your baby's fine if they're gaining weight, which that is true. They are fine when it comes to a medical threshold because we really want Them to gain weight for, to grow, for energy, for all of that stuff. But what we're missing, too, is that's the lowest bar. There's so much more that happens when the baby is growing that they can thrive on. Just like we brought, you know, your daughter to an ot, we've brought them to chiropractor, we brought them other things to be able to help them thrive. And you've seen the huge difference between where your child is compared to where somebody else's child is. That didn't go down those routes, too. So there's just all of this stuff that comes from the functional aspect of life that medical hasn't been trained in, which is fine, but we just need both of them to talk so that we can not only have babies survive, we can have them thrive. And ultimately in life, we want everybody to thrive because things that happen now as newborns, and if we don't kind of figure them out, or I don't want to say, you know, correct them, because it's not something that's, like, wrong. But we can change the direction that they're going because if we don't get things kind of sorted out, their babies are making compensations because we are resilient to live and survive. And so they're going to do that any way that they possibly can. But when we can get them the services that they could use or need that are more functional, we can get them to thrive and we'll see a much better outcome. I mean, there's been the cdc, you know, last year or even a year before that, decided to say that crawling isn't a milestone that they have to do. It's a huge milestone. But medical is seeing a lot of kids not having it. Why are these kids not crawling? Because when you talk to an OT or you talk to a pt, they're like, no, Those kids who don't crawl that come to see us when they're 5, 6, 7, or 8, even 20, we have to go back and sometimes and get them to crawl to. Because it has to do with the midline. It has to do with how the brain functions, how all of this stuff goes. So, yes, from a medical standpoint, the baby's doing fine. Because from outside, yeah, everything is working. But from an inside, functional aspect, it doesn't necessarily always work.
A
See, you're just a book of knowledge. I get that. I learned something every time. Thank you. It's just the facts. It's just the facts. So how long has general giraffes, newborn care, family and Family services been around.
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So we've been around for, well, as an official company for nine years. Come. Well, probably about eight and a half at this point. In September will be nine years. But although I remember 12 years old thinking, I want to own my own company, I had no idea what it would be in. But I remember sitting at my house on the Cape, on these steps, thinking to myself and pondering because, you know, what do you do when you're like, 10? And I was like, I'd like to own my own company someday. And here I am. Had no idea what it would be in.
A
Amazing. Well, we're really glad that you did what you did. We are. We know you know that. So what was. Now, obviously, like, you've been doing this for a while. You're so, so good at what you do. Like, what was a moment for you in your life, personally, professionally, that really changed the trajectory of your life?
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You know, the thing that I've learned about just being a business owner in general is that you are never gonna a please everybody. And society says that you really should get everybody to like you. And in reality, that's not true. There's like 8 billion people in this world, and 95% of them aren't. I'm not gonna please. So when I realized that, that really changed my trajectory of life and how I do things that I am like, okay, well, I can only really 100% please myself. And that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going to be rude or disrespectful to anybody. It's just that I'm true to myself. And what I have found over that is that that has caused a lot of friction with other people because they're not used to somebody having boundaries. They're not used to somebody being direct. They're not used to somebody being authentic to themselves, because they're used to people trying to people please and trying to do things, to be able to get other people to like them. And even this week, you know, in general, I've been getting the heat left and right from all sorts of things. And what it all comes down to is, is that these people are telling me that I need to be more accepting of everybody while they're telling me, while they're telling me I'm not accepting, but they're not accepting me for me, so they're pretty much telling me to do something that they're not even doing themselves. So it's showing to me on an outside perspective and more on an evolved perspective, that really all that matters is how I feel at the end of the day, as long as my intentions are not to hurt somebody and, you know, all of that, which they never are. I mean, as you know, I have a huge heart. It comes out all the time. Am I perfect? No, absolutely not. You know, but if we come to life and realize my, you know, your intentions are right and what you do, 80% of the time, I think that other people are doing things in a positive light. Life is going to be great. And that's how I kind of run my business and live my life. And a lot of people actually get upset with me with it, too, because they. They actually are like, oh, my God, look at her. She's so confident. She's doing this. She's doing. And they can't do it themselves.
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And.
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And it's just stuff that I've learned over the years.
A
I'm very inspired by that. Everyone needs to take that lesson, because I think there is a lot. And I actually talked that on the earlier episode. The people pleasing tendency. It's very common, especially with women. Like, I don't want to throw that with men either, but I think it's a very common.
B
Absolutely, 100%. I was just reading something, an article that was stating that we are conditioned as women to be people pleasers because that's part of us as feminine. But in reality, we only can please ourselves because at the end of the day, it's exhausting to be able to please everybody else.
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It is. I want to talk about your outfit. So we're gonna talk about color psychology today. So blue is, like, communication color, which I think you're doing very strongly today. So I think that's on brand. The green is, like, loving of nature, beauty, grace. Like, I think in the industry you're in, it's very, like, on brand. And then I would say the red is, like, energetic. Like, it's bold. I think that's very on brand for Erin. Thanks. Like, I love that for you. I think you're stepping into this era of that.
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Well, it's funny that you say that, because I didn't choose any of what I wear, what I'm wearing, based on what you just said. So it was just intuitively, I was like, oh, this is. And I literally did it last night. I was, like, going through, you know, as I'm unpacking, what can I wear?
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What.
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What's this? Jackie said this, so I'm looking. And so it was just.
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It worked out well.
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You.
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You were. You were supposed to. I really believe that. Okay. I want to play some game time. So swaddle or sleep sack?
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Depends on the age.
A
Okay, so can you give some advice about that?
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So I say swaddling, at least for the first, you know, anywhere from eight to 12 weeks. Because what we're doing is, is that these babies have been literally in a. They've been wrapped like this for nine months. And so their nervous system is used to having some pressure. And when they come out and we just not have them in a swaddle at all, it's like a fish out of water. They're like, whoa, what's kind of going on? And all of this stuff. So when we can swaddle them and kind of recreate that womb, we're also supporting them in their nervous system and their feeling of secureness and safety.
A
White noise or total silence?
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White noise, 100%.
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I'm with you. I can't sleep without it now. I can't.
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Well, it's not even just that they're so used to it, because the blood of. In our. In our. When we're pregnant, or just in general, actually, but the baby's going to hear it when we're pregnant.
A
The.
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The blood goes up and down here into our heart. And it sounds like a sound machine. And it is 90 decimals, 80 to 90 decimals in the womb. So it's really loud for them. And so when they come out and it's total silence again, that's like, whoa, what is happening? My world. I'm used to stuff all over the place. So when you give that. That again is another way of being like, safety. Yeah, safety. And their brain is being able to relax and all of that.
A
Okay, but what about Aaron, though? White noise or total silence?
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Oh, me personally, So I have to have something. I'm with babies all the time. I've got that. Plus, I grew up in New England. I grew up without central air. I had a fan or an AC in the window. You know, something like that.
A
So can't. I know, contact nap or crib naps.
B
You know, I go back and forth with this. Really. I mean, if you want me to give you what I would tell my clients based on their goals, it would be a crib nap. If your child's sick or they need a little bit of help or something else is going on, there's a milestone, or you really don't know what's happening, and the baby really needs to get sleep. Contact now.
A
Okay, good advice. Early bed. Now this is for you. Early bedtime or flexible evenings.
B
Oh, God. Give Me an early bedtime, eight, nine o'. Clock. I'm like, let's go. Even if I'm just sitting in bed because I sleep at so many other people's homes that when I'm home, I like my bed structure.
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Intuition?
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Yes.
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Which one? Both. Okay. Any particular order?
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No. It's gonna really depend because sometimes your intuition is why you have structured it that way and sometimes you're. The way that you're starting to structure something brings in intuition and you change it.
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Tech support or voice call? Voice call 100 city families or travel families for who I work with. Both.
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They just bring different aspects of the industry to light and it's what the client needs or is used to. And if I can do it like a week from tomorrow, I go and I travel with a client for three weeks. So. But then I also have tons, like you weren't a travel client and we have tons of others who aren't. So it really is going to depend on the client.
A
Amazing. So what two questions before we close out. So first question is, what advice would you give to moms today who are pregnant and maybe have never thought of exploring a newborn care specialist or postpartum doula or getting the care that they need, like if they just are uneducated about it.
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So I firmly believe that every single family this is not about, this is not an industry just for the elite. I believe anybody's having children needs both daytime and overnight support. The daytime is really where the, in my personal view is where the doula comes, comes into play and can mother the mother and manage the household. And what I say by mothering the mother is making sure she's eating healthy, making sure that she is has time management or taking a shower or getting a nap or, you know, making sure that she's her energy is going to be able to feed the baby or do the overnights with the baby while the doula is doing the laundry or the dishes or making sure that other stuff is going on. I feel that that is really, really important for society, society at large. It also doulas are more trained in emotional mood disorders and stuff for postpartum. And I also feel most parents aren't going to sit there and start talking to you about how they feel. I mean, it was very hard for you to still talk to me even though we've known each other for years now. I knew stuff was going on because I could just see it. And that's where is in really important. If you're just sleeping at night and we're Coming in for the baby, you're not going to see some of those other daily things that are precursors to maybe something bigger. Whereas like with the newborn care specialist, we're trained 100% in newborn care and really in depth in newborn care. So having somebody at night to be able to do that, to be able to educate you on what is going on with your baby and what they're communicating both verbally and non verbally is really important. Important in my view.
A
Love these nuggets. And what would you tell your younger self today?
B
Oh, I would tell my younger self that get rid of the anxiety. Honestly, like the anxiety is, is societally induced because it goes back to what we've talked about of not being true to myself but trying to be true to every single person I interact with. And that isn't being true to me. That's being true to that people pleasing aspect. And that brings a lot of anxiety into me. I mean even coming and being prepared for this, I was like, what do I do? Because I don't. I wanted a. I wanted to obviously do well for myself and my business, but I also want to do well for your business too. So I still get some of that anxiety because it's me being like I have to be and perform for somebody else, then realizing I just need to sit back and be myself. And you're really great at making sure that people are comfortable and also who can just sit back and be themselves.
A
Thank you. Erin. How can people follow you and get in touch?
B
They can follow us on Instagram @gentaldrafts newborn care. Thank you for setting that up years ago. Or they can, you know, email us@contactenaldraft.com or our website which is generaldrafts.com do it.
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Thanks for tuning in to Next on Scene. Stay tuned for who's Next on Scene. I'm here to give you your red carpet moment. So follow us on all our podcast channels on any stream from iheartradio Spotify. If you just type in Next on Scene, the human behind the brand. Or you can also follow us on all our social media channels @nextonscene. Can't wait for you to come on this journey with us. Your say is very impactful as an audience member. So come along for the ride and we are gonna all evolve together and we can't wait for you to see who's next on scene. Hey, it's Howie Mandel and I am
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Podcast Summary: Next On Scene: The Human Behind The Brand Episode: Newborn Truths Every Parent Should Hear with Erin Caroll-Manning Host: Jaclyn Zukerman Delory Guest: Erin Caroll-Manning, Founder of General Giraffes Newborn Care and Family Services Release Date: March 17, 2026
In this insightful episode, Jaclyn Zukerman Delory sits down with Erin Caroll-Manning, an experienced newborn care specialist and founder of General Giraffes Newborn Care and Family Services. Together, they explore what it truly means to support newborns and families, debunk common myths about newborn care, and discuss the importance of valuing professional childcare. The conversation also gets personal as they reflect on their own experiences, the societal pressure of people-pleasing, and the value of authenticity in parenting and business.
This episode was filled with wisdom, practical takeaways, and reassurance for parents and caregivers. Erin’s blend of honest expertise and advocacy for the human side of newborn and parental care offers both comfort and empowerment to listeners—reminding us that visibility, authenticity, and support are fundamental to lasting legacy.