From Side Hustle to Six Figures with Christine Rogers

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Doula Darcy Podcast – Episode: "From Side Hustle to Six Figures with Christine Rogers"

Introduction

In the March 14, 2025 episode of The Doula Darcy Podcast, host Darcy Sauers engages in an inspiring conversation with Christine Rogers, a highly successful birth and postpartum doula based in Alaska. Christine shares her transformative journey from managing her parents' bakery as a side hustle to building a thriving six-figure doula business. This detailed summary encapsulates their discussion, highlighting key topics, insightful strategies, and motivational anecdotes that can empower doulas at various stages of their careers.

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Guest Background and Initial Challenges

Christine Rogers begins by recounting her early days balancing work at her family's bakery and her passion for doula work. Initially, Christine perceived doula services as a mere side gig, pricing her services at $500 per birth while managing around eight births annually.

"I don't even know where I came up with the number 500. I just pulled it out of the air and I was like, all right, this is what I'm gonna charge this." ([05:00])

Christine acknowledges the unsustainability of her initial pricing and the emotional and physical toll it took on her. Her breakthrough came when she decided to join Darcy's Doula Village, a pivotal move that provided her with the necessary support and marketing strategies to scale her business.

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Transitioning to Full-Time Doula Work

Three years prior to the podcast, Christine made a decisive move to transition from her role in the bakery to pursuing doula work full-time. This shift was significantly influenced by her involvement in Doula Village, where she connected with a community of doulas from diverse regions.

"When you joined my doula village was a huge part of that." ([02:18])

She highlights the importance of community support in overcoming her initial fears about scaling up and recognizing the true value of her services. This realization was further solidified when she decided to invest in Darcy's coaching programs, which focused on elevating her business to a six-figure income.

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Overcoming Pricing Barriers

A major hurdle for Christine was confronting her self-worth and the perceived value of her doula services. Through coaching, she learned to revalue her services and confidently increase her rates.

"What do you have to do to make six figures? Which was the first indication to me that it was even the possibility, like, existed in the world." ([05:46])

Christine now charges $2,600 per birth, a significant increase from her initial rate. This adjustment not only enhanced her income but also allowed her to maintain the high-quality support she provides to her clients.

"$2,600. Boom. Which is five times plus." ([07:09])

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The Role of Doula Village and Community Support

Christine attributes much of her success to Doula Village, emphasizing the invaluable support and sisterhood it offers. The community provided her with encouragement during challenging times, such as traumatic births, and offered practical advice on business growth.

"You come for the marketing videos and you stay for the sisterhood." ([12:31])

She shares heartfelt moments where fellow doulas provided emotional and professional support, reinforcing the importance of a strong support network in sustaining a doula business.

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Personal Growth and Entrepreneurship

Beyond her professional achievements, Christine discusses her personal growth journey fueled by entrepreneurship. She highlights how managing her doula business has empowered her to pursue other passions, such as pottery and learning a new language.

"I've decided to learn a new language. I was super frustrated with it last week... give me three years of dedicated time and I'm gonna be fluent." ([17:55])

This personal development not only enhances her skills but also sets a positive example for her children, instilling entrepreneurial spirit and resilience.

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Modeling Entrepreneurship for Her Children

Christine is passionate about modeling entrepreneurial values for her four children, aged 18 to 11. She shares stories of how her children are inspired by her work ethic and business acumen, undertaking their own ventures to achieve personal goals.

"My daughter sold out a month's worth of pastries in a day and a half to fund her trip to nationals." ([26:26])

These anecdotes underscore the ripple effect of Christine’s success, showcasing how a robust support system and entrepreneurial mindset can positively influence the next generation.

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Launching a Childbirth Education Course

Looking ahead, Christine is developing a comprehensive childbirth education course aimed at empowering expectant mothers to advocate for themselves during births. This initiative reflects her commitment to removing fear and fostering confidence among her clients.

"It's going to be the comprehensive childbirth education for those who are looking to remove fear and have the confidence themselves to be empowered and advocate for themselves." ([40:11])

This project not only diversifies her offerings but also reinforces her role as a thought leader in the doula community.

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Sustainable Business Practices and Avoiding Burnout

Christine emphasizes the importance of sustainable business practices to prevent burnout, a common challenge in the doula profession. She advocates for building a resilient support system and maintaining work-life balance.

"The only way to do this work sustainably is with support. We can't do it in a vacuum." ([38:41])

By integrating personal well-being with professional responsibilities, Christine ensures longevity and fulfillment in her doula career.

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Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Christine Rogers' journey from a side hustle to a six-figure doula business illustrates the transformative power of community support, strategic pricing, and personal development. Her story serves as a blueprint for doulas aspiring to elevate their practice and create sustainable, fulfilling careers.

Notable Quotes:

• "We can't do it in a vacuum." – Christine Rogers ([38:41])
• "You come for the marketing videos and you stay for the sisterhood." – Christine Rogers ([12:31])
• "The supportive system that I have in place. And 80% of that comes from my doula village." – Christine Rogers ([34:52])
• "It's not the money that I'm chasing. It's the freedom." – Christine Rogers ([10:34])
• "I refuse to be a part of that statistic. I won't do it." – Christine Rogers ([38:19])

Final Thoughts

This episode of The Doula Darcy Podcast is a testament to the profound impact of mentorship, community, and self-belief in transforming a passion into a prosperous business. Listeners are encouraged to embrace these principles to foster their own success and contribute meaningfully to the lives of the families they serve.

Transcript

[Darcy]

Welcome to the Doula Darcy podcast. I'm your host, Darcy, a business coach for doulas, and I love helping my fellow doulas master the art of marketing so that they can grow their businesses and help more families. On the podcast, I combine my decade of experience in Advertising with 14 years as a doula to empower other doulas with the marketing strategies and mindset shifts they need to attract more clients and create successful, fulfilling doula careers. Whether you're just starting out as a doula or you're looking to take your doula business to the next level, you're in the right place. Let's go.

[Christine Rogers]

Oh. Welcome, everybody, and buckle up, because I just know this is going to be a good ride. Today I have with me on the Doula Darcy podcast, Christine Rogers of Draw near Doula in Alaska, which I. I don't know about anyone else, but I just think Alaska is cool. I've never been there, so it has this mystique. And. And Christine is a birth and postpartum doula up there in Alaska, and she's also a member of my doula village and has had incredible growth in her doula business. And I want her to share her story because I just think there's so many aspects of it that will help doulas at so many different points along their path. Christine, thank you for taking the time to speak today on the podcast.

I'm super excited to. Finally. We've been planning this for a long time.

I know. I think I said a year ago.

Like a year ago. Yeah.

So I don't even think I had a podcast yet. And I was. You have to cover. Yeah. So let's start. Let's start at the beginning because. And I meant to look it up before we started of when you joined my doula village, but it was a couple years ago.

I think this is my third year.

Yeah.

In fact, I know this is my third year because it's been. It was three years ago that I opted to go full time and really pursue growth.

Yes.

That is joining my doula village was a huge part of that.

Yeah. And you. Because when you started, I remember you telling us that you worked in a bakery, your parents owned a bakery, you worked there, and you were like. Well, and you were like, running it. And being a doula was like this little thing you did on the side. Right. That's how you thought about it. And.

Yeah, but bread was always my dad's passion. It's like, I like to bake and things like that, but it was not mine. And so there came a point where I thought I can either continue to invest all of my time and energy in somebody else's dream. I love you, dad. Sorry, but. Or I can take it all and I can invest it in my dream. And thankfully, cuz he was my dad. He was so. My parents were so supportive and only the tiniest bit cranky when I quit anyway.

Yeah. And so what. What was the kind of the tipping point when you realized that being a doula could go from being a side hustle to your main source of income?

You were the tipping point. I was like lurking in your marketing group and I joined. I made the jump into my doula village because I was thinking at that point in time I was charging 500 for a birth and having. So that was an entire birth fee to join my doula village for the year.

Oh.

I was like. And I was only doing eight births that year. And so I was like, that was a huge thing. And I thought maybe I'll just sign up for one of your one on ones and I'll just pick your brain for an hour and I'll just write furious notes. And then I saw what you charged per hour and I was like. But then I got. And I realized I got the automatic one on one if I joined my new level agent. So I thought that's the better deal. So I took a deep breath and woo sa myself into it and. And jumped in. And one of the first conversations that you were having was what would it take to have a six figure year? And I was like, that is the most ludicrous thing I have ever because I was charging $500 for a birthday. Yeah. And so I thought I would never sleep, I would have to work, I'd never see my kids, I'd never. All of this stuff. And then as I started diving in and learning more and more, it was like, oh, I'm. The conversations about charging your worth. That was a huge hurdle for me.

And actually I'm gonna just interrupt you. I also think there's a really big value in coming into a group like my doula village where there's doulas from all over the world, US and Canada. You really could see how staggeringly low $500 was compared to other people in big cities and rural areas of the country. I think that was a good mirror for you too. Like. Oh, it wasn't.

Yeah. And it was a confidence issue too. What do I know who's going to want to hire me? Who would want to pay more? And I Was not really considering the value that I was bringing to the equation. And part of it, we know when I took my doula training, I just. I don't even know where I came up with the number 500. I just pulled it out of the air and I was like, all right, this is what I'm gonna charge this. And there were other doulas around me that I knew were charging a lot more, and I really looked down on them. This is super embarrassing though. But I was like, you guys are so bougie. You're gonna serve the people on the hillside and be the rich people's doula. And I'm gonna be out here. I'm gonna be like the Les Miserables. Like, I'm gon people's doula.

Yeah.

And then I. When I started taking more births and realizing that if I really wanted to make a go of it, that this is a business, it wasn't sustainable. So the combination of that question, what do you have to do to make six figures? Which was the first indication to me that it was even the possibility, like, existed in the world to not just do something that I love, but actually have it be a sustainable business. And I remember telling my husband, okay, this is three years ago or so, right? And I was all, what would it be crazy if I made six figures? And he was like, christine, I love you, but slow your roll. That's pretty out there. And I was annoyed with them. And then last week we were at out for dinner with my sister and her husband, and my brother in law is retired. And he looked at my husband across the table and he said, hey, Josh, what's it gonna take for your wife to be able to retire you so you can sit around and like, smoke cigars and do woodworking projects with me all day? And my husband looked at me and he's. Honestly, that might actually be in the cards. And I was like, yeah, look at the turnaround he's had in three years as well, watching me build this. And so that was a big moment for me. Suck it. Look what I've done.

That was a big moment for me as your coach. That is. I love that story. That's amazing because what do you charge now, three years later? What are you charging for a birth?

$2,600.

Boom.

Which is. Okay. Math is not my thing.

Is that five times?

Five times plus.

Plus.

Yeah.

And. And I. This is just such a topic that comes up in the doula world that I want to help everyone. I want this to be accessible for everybody. The way you were thinking at first, looking at what other doulas were charging. But I can only imagine how many births do you have to go to at the $500 level before you're like, wait a minute, this is not, not sustainable.

And births. I have this. I don't know how it happens. I. I get crazy. I have crazy birth stories. I am at the most intense, high risk, bonkers, bananas situations. And even you've been like, where do you find these people? And I'm like, I don't know. They find me. And apparently this is my niche. This is what God sends my way. Yeah. And the emotional toll, the physical toll is crazy, but the emotional toll that takes as well, I just. Yeah, it's unsustainable. Yeah. But here's the thing, too. I told two people this last week, two really good friends of mine, both of them that I have doulaed for before, and they both contacted me and they were like, hey, I'm pregnant. Just wanted to let you know I have no money. I can't hire you. I hope you're not offended. And I was like, okay, first of all, not offended in the slightest. And secondly, if you need me, I'll be there. You're my friend. I love you. I have enough business. I'm talking with my hands. I know this is a podcast and you can see, but imagine me, like, talking with my hands here, but I have enough full time, like, solid business that I can do things like pro bono work. And I can. I've discounted previous clients. I've discounted people who have. Just because I charge 2,600 doesn't mean that I don't have any wiggle room in there.

You have the discretion to charge less if you know the person really needs it and you still want to be there.

Because I am my own boss. And, yeah, it's magical. I don't think I could ever work for anybody ever again.

Oh, you'd be. You would be a horrible employee.

I can't handle it. I just. I don't want to do that. You. You can't make me. You're not the boss of me.

Oh, yeah.

No.

You're never going back to any.

Why would I? Right? What could. What is out there that could possibly give me the freedom that I have right now that I love doing this much working for someone else? It doesn't exist.

I truly think it's one of the most special feelings in the world to be doing work that truly lights up your soul. And I know birth work, doula work, Is that for you? Postpartum and now coaching doulas for me. I love it. And then to be paid well for it is the best.

It still blows my mind, honestly, when there are things that come up in our life and I don't have to scramble and cry and be stressed and lose sleep about how we're going to afford it and just. It's this whole. It's a brave new world to be able. My kids need braces. That's lame, but okay, let's. Grocery prices are rising. That's lame, but okay, we can handle it. And.

And it's not going to be hours and hours of me fretting over the bill and worrying about it.

No, it's not. And that it's. It's freeing. I don't. It's not the money that I'm chasing. It's the freedom. Yes.

Yes. I always say yes to the freedom, but also the stress I used to live under. Like fear of checking the bank account or the car needs a new muffler. Oh, my gosh. That's gonna. The stress and the worry that I spent on those kind of things that now just is. It's. It's not on my calendar anymore. Oh. I don't have to spend two hours today worrying about the bills and how I'm going to pay them and wow, that's two hours I can go actually help someone or take a walk. It's. And I see that in you, too, and so many of the doulas that I know, and I just love it. So I want to. I don't know if I had to choose what my, like, proudest coaching moment is with you. I don't know if it's like you, like, real ma, having your husband realize that you're going to be earning six figures or when you had been in my doula village for a while, and then you came to office one hour. Hours. One day. Because you had been at a very traumatic birth and you were truly thinking of quitting. You were going to go back to the bakery. You. You didn't think. You were like. I just. This was too much. And it. I always. It was so great for me to see you go from that to where you are now going to even more births, helping even more people. But I feel like if you had been alone in Alaska, maybe you would have stopped.

Oh, a hundred percent.

Yeah.

So here's the thing. And this is. I say this when I talk about my doula village all the time. Cause somebody said it once, I can't Take credit for this phrase, but I definitely repeat it all the time. You come for the marketing videos and you stay for the sisterhood. And when you. I had been in my dula village for, I don't know, a couple of months, I was poking around, I was watching the marketing videos and I had this really traumatic birth. And I thought, I guess this lady is like my coach. She seems nice. I think I messaged you on Facebook. It was like, hey, this was a really hard birth. And you told me, like, can you come to office hours tomorrow? And I was like, sure, I'll. Sure, I'll come to office hours tomorrow. I don't know what this is about, but okay. And because I'm in Alaska and you're on the east coast, so the time difference is, is wonky. And I remember I was like 5 minutes late cuz I was picking up my kids from school and I got home and I went and jumped on the computer and as the screen was loading, as I was joining the zoom meeting, like the pictures hadn't even come up yet. The video hadn't even started. But I heard you say, like, Christine Rogers is here. She's. She needs to decompress this birth. Everybody be quiet. This is her time. We're going to listen to her. And I was like, oh, okay.

And so I'm sharing this great.

Yes, this is what's happening. And so I, I think that entire office hours, I don't think anybody else got a word in edgewise. It was all like, I had to tell the story. And it was brutal. Like, just still to this day. And that's probably the top three most traumatic experiences I've had as a birth doula. It doesn't, it's not the most traumatic anymore.

Yeah.

But I have good systems in place, so I process better now. But anyway, I sent all this thing and people were telling me that was the first time I met Emily, that was the first time I met Victoria. And I had these doulas who were like talking to me and reminding me of what I was bringing to this equation and how important it was to take care of myself and how important it was to charge my worth so that I could continue this work and how powerful the work is. And then people started private messaging me and friending me on Facebook and here's my cell phone number and call me. And that was the catalyst for some of the, like, strongest friendships that I have with other doulas across the country was that conversation. And then I started to realize, oh, I think this. There's something different about this thing that I joined on a whim, and I really started to lean in, and I started listening to everybody else's stories, and I had this moment where it was like, I guess the starsy lady, like, kind of knows what she's talking about. Like, all right, I'm gonna. I'm gonna do these things. I'm gonna see what happens. And I started coming to all of your little. Little. Like, not like little, but there was, like, the live trainings, like, here and there. I remember specifically one about Instagram bios. And I hopped in and I redid my Instagram bio and other things that popped up here and there. And you audited my website, which was even my old website, and just started making little tweaks and little changes here and there. And I started to see movement and growth. And it was small movement. It was small growth at first, until I did. At the end of that year, I decided to take the plunge and be a doula full time. And that was in 2022. January of 2020. What are we in 25? Yeah, just January 2022. I quit my job and I decided to do this whole crazy thing full time. And what has happened has been as much business growth as it has been personal growth. Because that was our joke until a few months ago. Like, you could almost tell, like the. Like, clockwork, every four or five months, I was going to email you and be like, nobody's calling me. This is terrible. Like, my business is going to fail. Am I ever going to make any money? I'm never going to get clients again. And you'd be like, calm down. Take a deep breath. And then five minutes later, I'd have two inquiries. And it happened every single time. Until the last time I had to message you, I was like, darcy, it's too much. Too many people are calling me. This is stressing me out. I have too many inquiries. I have too many referrals. I don't know how to do this. And. But now, even with. Because we talk all the time about how there's an ebb and flow to this business. And even just last week, I was panicking. There's nothing I had. Nobody's called me, it feels like, in the last few days or whatever. And I thought, christine, you're a dummy. You signed three people last week. This is okay. And then I was like, yeah, yeah, Christine, I'm heaven if you've ever seen the emperor's new groove when he's got his angels on his shoulders and oh, yeah, that kind of moment, like this is okay, move on, you're gonna be fine. And yeah. And so just the confidence in myself and the systems that I have in place and the confidence that I now have because I've watched this grow and now I feel like I can do anything if I give it enough time and energy. Not just even like I started taking a pottery class last fall and I love it and I'm horrible at it, but I started to watch myself improve and I had to take the beginner class a couple times, which hurt my pride, like, whatever. And then I graduated from the beginner class and now I get to start intermediate next week. And I was like, oh, give me three years of dedicated time and I'm gonna be an amazing potter. And I've decided to learn a new language. And I was super frustrated with it last week cuz I couldn't remember how to conjugate this verb, like on the fly. And I was really annoyed. And then my 18 year old who'd been listening to me listen to this lesson over and over again, she stuck her head in the room and it's like, mom, get it together. And she conjugated the verb for me cause she'd heard it so many times, they're crying out loud. But it's also only been two weeks and so give me three years and I'm going to be fluent. And I have so much confidence in myself now just as a person that I can learn new things. I can do all these things that I've always wanted to do or that have scared me in the past and I just need time.

Yeah.

To, to figure it out and it's going to be fine.

And there's nothing like entrepreneurship to launch a self discovery or personal growth.

Yeah, sometimes you learn things you didn't really want to know, but.

And yeah, it forces you to face things about yourself and work on yourself for sure. But one thing, one of many things I love about you is along the way you have all like the Instagram bio. You always even said out loud like, all right, I'll try this, but I don't know, I don't know. I particularly remember I was doing a training on blogging and you were like, I don't know about this whole blogging thing, but you always were like, but if you say so, Darcy, I'm going to try it. And you did it. And this is what I want to point out. You did it. You have been doing all the things. And this is a conversation I've had with a lot of coaching clients like, and maybe because it's spring, you planted all the seeds. And that's so much of what I teach in my doula village is like the foundation of building your doula business, which is really planting the seeds for your, you know, future client inquiries. And you did it all along the way, half believing, like, not believing, I should say that it was going to work, but you did it anyway.

Yeah, I did it anyway. And that, and then that helped me make the jump because I'm one of your private coaching clients too. And that was what also helped me make the jump, to do that. Because again, and I told you this last week, like, it is not the. The price tag was giving me, like, indigestion. Not because you're not worth it, but because I still have, like, I don't know, trauma. I don't know all of it. I.

You've never spent that much money on yourself.

No, I never had it. And. But then I started thinking, can I afford not to do this? Ooh. Cuz I had been spinning my wheels because last year my goal for 2024 was to get a course done. And December 31st rolled around and I had done nothing and done nothing. And I thought there, there went the whole year. And I was super frustrated about it. And I was talking to you about this coaching thing and I was on the fence. And you finally pointed out, Christine, this is the environment in which you thrive. You need the accountability, you need the step by step. And I thought, for the love of Pete, like, why do you know me like this? This? But you're totally right, because I'm also. I'm a published author and I haven't written a book in five years because I had time and accountability and structure in place when I was writing. When I was publishing five years ago, I published two books and I had lost track of that. And so I don't have anything necessarily to show for it. And so I started.

Except for the hundred births you went to.

Yeah, but not like, book writing. And my editor, who is lovely and emails me like, every six months is like, hey, how's your life? You got anything for me? And I'm like, no. And a lot of that was because I intentionally put it aside because I couldn't build a doula business and write books at the same time. So I prioritized. But now it's. What is it? It's March 10th. I have, I have a course outlined, completely laid out. I've got two. One. One module completely finished with all the lessons in it. The other one's halfway done and plugging away at it. I message you all the time, what do you think about this? And what do you think about that? And help me figure out this and. But also just knowing that you're in the background. And if you don't hear from me for three days, you're gonna be like, hey, what you doing? Hello. And I thrive under that. And so the money, like, for paying for the coaching became. Okay. How many courses then do I have to sell to make this up? And it's not gonna be like, what, 10? Yeah. Not many at all. Right. And if I don't get it done, I can't ever sell it. And so it was this whole, like, like, swirling vortex of.

Let's call it an upward cycle of success, not a swirl.

I like that. Yeah.

Because also along the way, we're talking about your doula business and working on that, too. And. Which is amazing.

Which is not just the course my website has gotten.

Oh, yes.

A huge boost in refresh that I did through with you. And then we're talking about the things for the future and, like, the future planning I've got. I'm writing a book about being a doula now, and that's in the works and it's moving and things like that I want to do in the future on my own. Coaching and holding retreats. And even, like, the other day we were talking, you were like, hey, slow your roll. I think we gotta focus on, like, right now, one thing at a time. I was like, but so many ideas. There's so many things I want to do.

Yes, go, Keep going.

Oh, but it just. I don't know. It. You were totally right. I 100% thrive under this kind of coaching paradigm. I don't even know what to call it, but Framework. Framework. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm so proud to see things, like build and be going. And even though I don't have very many, I have one birth scheduled for March and one in April. And in the past, that would've really freaked me out, but I also have five in May. I'm completely booked in September, which. Okay, that was a thing. But I was like, oh, so now I have March and April to really hammer in and get work done for this passive income stuff. And I was almost glad that I didn't count that much outs. I don't know.

Yeah, you also, I think you. Back to the personal development piece of it. You've also adjusted your thermostat to handle this, what we always call, like, the feast or famine. How Many births did you have in January? You had six like you were.

And bonkers.

Yeah.

Four in February.

Yeah.

So I'm only like, supposed to be doing three a month. Clearly. That's right. It averages.

You're, you're, you're already ahead of schedule, so it's fine. And you're okay with that, which has been a growth edge for you for sure.

Yeah.

Will you also tell the story of modeling this for your kids? One of your favorite things first, I want to say is like, this framework for coaching has been so great because I know you so well because you've been in my doula village for years and I've gotten to know you've come to the main retreat. Tw. Like I really know you once.

Oh, just. Yeah, just last year.

Oh.

But I met you at the, the dual.

[Darcy]

The break worker retreat.

[Christine Rogers]

Yeah.

The first worker retreat. Yeah.

So I've spent time with you in person. I know you really well. And that has made like the framework for our coaching, like, so personalized.

Yeah.

And it's different because it's different for everybody. But I just love, you know, I've worked with my coach for two and a half years and it's like I told her the other. I just was on her retreat last week. I'm like, I'm never leaving. Like, the longer I'm with her, the more she knows my business, the more she knows me. It's just amazing.

So my worst nightmare is that you're gonna retire.

Oh, I'm never gonna retire.

So don't. Awesome.

One of the things over the years that I have loved is that you, when you want more money, it's not because you want to buy a Lamborghini. It's because you want to send your kid to the extra trip to Washington D.C. or you want to take your family on vacation. Like you have like specific things you want to do for your kids and which you have been doing, but awesome. Tell the story of your daughter and the pastries and like what you're modeling in growing this business and achieving your dreams. Like what. Forget money. Like just what you're modeling to your kids and what that.

So I have, I have four children ranging 18 to 11. And this particular story is about my 14 year old. And she and my 16 year old both competed in a state competition recently. And for their age groups, my 16 year old took first in state and my 14 year old took second, which was just on its own completely mind blowing and amazing. Yeah. And so they qualify for nationals, which is in Orlando in July. My 16 year old got an automatic scholarship because she won. So the organization pays for her to go. But Even though my 14 year old came in second, she has to pay her own way. And I told her, I was like, I, we gotta figure this out. And she said, mom, I got this. So my parents owned this bakery and they retired last year and they had a signature pastry that you can't find anywhere else. My dad developed it and people in my area, like, they, they are sad, they miss it. It's a big deal. And so my dad taught my daughter and I how to make these pastries. And Melanie, my 14 year old, she had already been doing various fundraisers and things for a different trip that she had already been scheduled to take. And she said, what do I need to go to Orlando? And I said, things be like $2,400. And so she got out a pen and paper and she figured out exactly how many pastries that was that she had to make. And she was like, oh, like, we can do this. And so I helped her. I, I set up a signup and I posted it in our local Facebook group. She sold out a month's worth of pastries, like pre orders in a day and a half. Oh my God. And we have, and we got a big baking weekend. One of them is this weekend. And so she just, she makes pastries and people come and they pick em up and they're so excited because they've missed this particular pastry. But I don't. Other than helping her with a little bit of scheduling and things like that, I'm doing very little. I, I pay for the ingredients because that's, that's my contribution. Like, I'll pay for the ingredients, but I have to pay for your trip anyway.

But even to.

She just goes and she does, and she knows that she can, she knows that she can do this because she's heard me say over the last few years. So before I was a Tula, I'm very entrepreneurial. Okay, this is fourth 1, 2, 3, 4th business I've owned in my life. Biggest one for sure, but the fourth one. And so for years I had a jam and barbecue sauce business where I canned and I went to local farmers markets and the kids came with me and they sold jam and things like that. And so it was a question of like, all right, if we want to go to the trampoline park this weekend, all of us, how many jars of jam do we have to sell this weekend to pay for that? And so she knows that she can work backwards and Figuring that out. And, and she's just confident, of course I can do this. Because that is, that's what my kids are learning.

That's the world they live in.

That's the world they live in. That's because it's. This is what their mom is doing. And so these things that seem so big and so the same kid, actually last year in her English class, her English teacher was talking about how hard it is to be an author and get books published. And Melanie came home and she grabbed an author copy of each of my books that I had at home and she said, I'm taking these to school to show off tomorrow. Cause my teacher says this is hard, but my mom does it. And I was like, if my mom.

Does it, it must be hard.

It is hard, but your mom does it. And so this idea of. And my 11 year old son has a hard time cuz he's 11 and it's hard to. But he's always, what can I do? How can I start a business? What can I do to go. He makes chocolate chip cookies for people and sells them. And so whenever he's like, hey, I really want this $90 LEGO set. I'm like, that's nice. And then he goes and starts making calls. Who wants a batch of chocolate chip cookies? How can I earn this? I don't give my kids an allowance, anything like that. If they want it, they gotta work for it.

You give them flour, that's their allowance butter.

My God, the butter that we go through in this house. We. That was one of my, I was.

Gonna say one of my favorite boxers I got from you. You were like, I gotta go buy 10 pounds of butter.

Yeah, I. It's on sale at Target. Like I got like. And my. One of my kids opened the freezer the other day and she's oh, mom, we're running out of butter. There's 8 pounds, 8 pounds of butter in the freezer. But that's. That blow at my house.

I just love that $2,400 to send a kid to Orlando. And whatever extra you need to send the other kid like that at some point in your life that would have freaked you out. Oh my God.

It wouldn't have gone. There was no way. There's no way. And now they just would not have gone.

Yeah. So now a. You probably could have paid for her to go. But instead she sees that it's. This is my favorite part. This is not impossible. Like I can figure out a way with some flour and some butter to get myself to Orlando, like the lifelong gift that is to your daughter is all your kids is amazing.

And the thing too, my husband gave him a hard time a few weeks ago cuz my 16 year old wanted to take driver's ed. And I said it's like 900 I don't have. Let's take it, let's take a moment to think about this. And she's all, can't you just pick up a birth? And my husband's like, slow down here. And don't just. You don't have the right to like spend your mom's money and just. I'm waiting on. Everything's a mess with tricare. I'm a Tricare doula and they owe me so many thousands of dollars it's just not coming through. And they were doing that the other day. When mom's Tricare check comes, we know it's going to be this much and I need this much for that and I need that much for this. And then that's left over for Greg because I was like, whoa, back off.

Yeah, all right. Maybe you've been a little too good with the lessons.

Oh, I know. And they're like, oh, mom got this. But the funny thing too is I went so an under like when you said go do networking things. And so I joined a networking group locally and I went, we had a great meeting on Friday morning. It's this thing locally called the Landmark Collective for women business owners in my area. And we went and this one lady was talking about she owns a food truck, they make hand dipped ice cream bars. And she's. I am having a hard time finding kids because we, I employ teenagers. I came home with jobs for two of my kids from that and which they, I said here's her contact, like you have to call. But she said you, she's got a job for you if you call and do this.

And didn't you also get a birth client out of somebody coming to pick up pastries from your daughter or an interview or possibility?

Yeah. So my handle online is Christine Rogers, birth doula. And so when I posted in my local town Facebook group, hey, my kids, my kids aren't on social media.

Yeah.

So I posted the sign up sheet. And so one lady came to pick up pastries at our house and she's oh, I have birth questions for you. I'm having a baby. And so I gave her my card and she was talking about placenta encapsulation and all of these things and I haven't heard from her. This was probably a Week ago. But it was just. It was really funny. It just. It bleeds into the rest of my world. I'm like the org. I'm just going to take over everything. I'm going to assimilate, like, everything around me.

But your life is your business, and your business is part of your life, and being a mom is part of all that. And all. It's all connected and it's all one thing.

Yeah. And it's awesome.

Yes.

This, the whole. If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Now, I'll be the first person to tell you at 3 or 4 in the morning after 24 hours at a birth, I am not doing what I love yet. Like, that is. And Emily has told me before, she's like, 3am Is the witching hour for birth doulas. And we all start questioning all of our life choices at about 3:00am yeah. Like, boy, is that the truth.

Yeah.

Um. But then the baby is born, and I get, you know, I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie for that, like, birth high and go home and sleep for a day and a half. I'm like, okay, I'm ready to do this again. So it's not always amazing. I've done hard things. I work with people through loss. I walk. I've watched, like, horrific examples of obstetric violence happen right in front of my eyes. And I've reported doctors, just one to one, but, like, to the state medical board and to the hospital for just awful violence, obstetric violence. And the only thing I think that makes me able to continue is the support system that I have in place. And 80% of that comes from my doula village.

Amazing.

It's like, I have people that call me. I can call again because I'm in Alaska. And so if it's 3am here, I know Emily's awake.

Right.

Florida, Having her coffee. Juanita's probably up.

And Juanita was on my podcast last week, and she mentioned she's. I'm in Alabama. So I call Christine because she's four hours.

Yeah. Cause I'm up. If that's 2:00am in Alabama, it's only 10:00pm yeah. Here. And we did that a week and a half ago. She was like, I don't know what else to do for this lady. And she said, I need to Google this, but I don't have time. And I was. Hang tight. Like, we hung up. She went back to her client. I googled a bunch of stuff, took screenshots, sent it over to her, but that's how it's supposed to be. And when we get talking about like catty, nasty doulas who are being protect protective of their friends, this is not even the right word. But like when they pick fights and they pick on each other and it's just we're in a care. A deeply caring profession. Right. You're not giving up. This is. The bed's a bad. This is a bad look.

Yeah. And I just love all of that. The side conversations that happen, the side friendships that have come out of this for everybody. It's this amazing benefit or amazing, I don't know, consequence. I can't think of the word. But some unintended thing I. That has happened from creating my doula village. I was like, oh, I'll just teach marketing and help these doulas grow their business. And we, the friendships, the camaraderie, the 3am Messages back and forth between everybody just. It's so special. I love it so much.

So I gotta tell you, I have a text message thread, like a group text message from the doulas that we were all there in Maine. I'd never really connected with any of them on any kind of level before, but we were put in a house in Maine to do this retreat together and we have had. I don't think a single day has gone by since October when there has not been communication in this group. And when I got an offender bender on Friday and it was a. And the guy was screaming obscenities at me and I was freak. I was very frightened. I had my son with me and I was very frightened. It was a bad situation. Called my husband first. Second place was in this text thread. This is live updates. I just hit this guy in a parking lot and things are really bad and he's freaking me out. Somebody, what do I do? And it was every single one of them jumping in. Are you okay? What's next? Have you called the police? Do you need to do this? You know, we need to do that and all these things. And then the next day it was all of that. Hey, are you okay? Like, how's life today doing all right? Have you calmed down? Did you make it home safe? And then here's a picture of my dog just to make everybody feel better. Not my dog, but somebody else's dog. Yeah. And it's just the sisterhood is not something that I say lightly. It's huge. It's.

Yeah, it's very special. And I'm so glad you're a part of it. It's been amazing to witness you go from being a newer doula to now. I feel like you're. When someone comes to office hours with a traumatic birth or big questions, like you're one of the experienced doulas leading the conversation. It's just, it's so cool.

It still just baffles me. Sometimes I sit and I look and I'm like, okay, that's the thing I just said, look at my. I'm so wise.

Look at me telling this doula to raise her rates. That's.

I love it.

And as always with talking to you, the time has flown right by. What would be the one thing you want to leave a doula with? Who is maybe thinking of doula work as her side hustle? Right now? What would you tell that doula you're.

Thinking of as a side hustle? You have to decide if you want it to be a side hustle or if you want it to be your whole thing. But either way, the only way to do this work sustainably is with support. We can't do it in a vacuum. And that's why, like, the average lifespan of a doula business is five years. Because people burn out so badly and I ref. I refuse, I adamantly refuse to be a part of that statistic. I won't do it.

Yeah.

So I also want to Paramount.

Yeah. I also wanna shine, shine a light on like when you say support, you mean my doula village. But you also have built in supports in other areas of your life with. In your in person community. And also just for yourself, like giving yourself time to sleep off a birth, giving yourself a massage. Like, there, there's a lot to that. And I think that's a way you've grown as well.

I also had to wait to do this until my kids were older. This would not have been sustainable work with young kids. There's just no way. So the fact that my kids are older and I can tell them like, nobody asked me anything for 24 hours. Yeah, okay. Okay, Mom.

Okay.

And my 16 year old, she's. Do you need. What have you eaten today? Can I make you something to eat? I'm like, yes, thank you.

Oh, sweets, I love that. And so tell us about your course that you will be launching.

Oh, I'm building a childbirth education course that is as of yet unnamed. I'm searching for the correct name. But the goal and the or the subset of people that it will be intended to serve are those who are looking for. Gosh, how do I phrase this? They're having a baby in the hospital and they want to make sure they're able to retain their autonomy, their agency. Somebody who either has a traumatic birth past or has heard all the horror stories and wants to be able to go in very educated, very able to advocate for themselves and advocate for the birth that they want. So it is a jam packed like we are starting at the very foundations, anatomy and physiology of birth and like building all the way up through everything that you really need. I'm doing a horrible job explaining this, but no, it's. I haven't built my sales page yet so I don't have it very like.

It'S going to be the, the comprehensive childbirth education.

Very comprehensive. But yeah, for those who are looking to remove fear from the equation and have an empowering, have the confidence themselves to be empowered and advocate for themselves.

It'S going to be amazing. And I can't wait.

And they're with Star Trek references, of course.

So go follow Christine on social media at. Well, no, your website is drawneirdula. Com, which is excellent website. And then on social media you're christineerdula. Oh, okay. Oh, you were checking out Facebook where you're Christine Rogers.

Oh, that's my personal account. But the business account at DroneYardula.

Yes. And she's hilarious. So side note, you'll laugh. So thank you, Christine, for coming on the podcast. It was a pleasure and I.

You're in the making.

Oh yes. You have just done an amazing job. I love it so much. Thank you.

Really glad you're in my corner.

Oh thanks.

[Darcy]

Thank you for tuning in to the Dula Darcy podcast. I hope you found this episode valuable and I'd love for you to join me on the next one. Let's keep the conversation going. Shoot me a DM on Instagram thedula Darcy or join my free Facebook community, the Doula Marketing Group, where we dive deeper into growing your doula business. If you enjoyed the episode, please take a moment to rate and review the podcast on your favorite platform. Your feedback back will help more doulas discover the show, which in turn helps more families find the doula support that they need. And I believe that that is how we save the.