24. Breastfeeding Meets Business w/ Lactation Consultant Amy Tanzillo

You guys, this conversation is so ENERGIZING. Amy Tanzillo is a force to be reckoned with.

Amy is a mom of three, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and the CEO and founder of Thrive Breastfeeding and a straight boss!

Amy transitioned from a corporate career to being a stay-at-home mom, and eventually turned her side hustle into a successful career as a lactation consultant. Faced with major life changes and the global pandemic, Amy knew she needed to provide well for
herself and her kids. Her passion for helping people led her to lactation
consulting, a path that allows her to support moms, babies, and families while
giving her the freedom to be present for her own family.

In today’s conversation, Amy and I discuss the vital need for postpartum support services like lactation and sleep coaching, the evolving societal norms surrounding
breastfeeding, and the challenges of balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship.

We also explore the importance of knowing your worth,
particularly in the maternal services industry where women often undercharge
for their work. Additionally, we touch on the unique mental load that moms
carry (#momguilt), and more.

Amy brings big sister vibes to her lactation support, making her the perfect ally if you're
experiencing breastfeeding challenges or want to prepare confidently for your
postpartum journey. She has ambitious goals for her business and is doing
incredible work in her industry. I’m excited for you to hear this candid chat
about the importance of support, mindset, and resilience in motherhood and
business!

____

Connect with Amy on Instagram @thrivebreastfeeding 

Learn more about working with Amy by visiting her website

Connect with me on Instagram

Learn more about booking a Biz Therapy session and working together by visiting my website

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hi, my name is Amy Tanzolo, owner and CEO of Thrive Breastfeeding. I help mamas and babies throughout the DC metro area with breastfeeding challenges and I'm so excited to be here today, Mariah.

Speaker 2: 0:24

Hello and welcome to the Made for Mothers podcast, your one-stop shop for candid and relatable conversations about motherhood and entrepreneurship. Think of the show as your new mom friend, where we dive into all things marketing, branding, mindset, money, child care and growing your business while we all navigate our roles as both CEO and mom. I'm your host, maria Stockman, and I wear a bunch of hats. I'm a boy mama, I'm serving as a marketing mentor for mothers, I'm running a six-figure marketing agency and, on top of that, I'm the proud founder of the Made for Mothers community. This show is about sharing the real stories and the practical strategies from fellow mother-run businesses. So dive in, grab your headphones, reheat that coffee and let's go.

Speaker 2: 1:17

Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another episode of the Made for Mothers podcast. I am your host, maria Stockman, boy mama, founder and CEO I don't know party planner, cruise director of the Made for Mothers universe, and I am so excited that I have Amy Tanzillo in front of me. Hi Amy, hello there. I love when I have local moms who are part of our Northern Virginia Made for Mothers community come on the podcast, because I feel like I'm like oh my gosh, I know you, I love your business, let's do this. Let's get into it, and I'm super impressed by you, amy. I literally am so impressed. Do you know how impressed I am by you? Have I ever told you this?

Speaker 1: 1:59

No, but I'm so flattered, I'm such an admired entrepreneur in the community. I'm just blushing over here.

Speaker 2: 2:07

Okay. So I met Amy at a meetup. She came to one of our local meetups and I don't know something happened, like in passing. It was so quick. It was such this like quick little interaction that we had and you shared something with me about your business. You shared some of your revenue goals with me and I was like I took a step back and I was like, oh, hot damn, amy's figured it out. She works in the mom space, she works with breastfeeding, she works with families, and this is not a hobby, this is not some side hustle, this is not some soft little thing that you're doing. You, you have created like a six figure, multi six figure business model in an industry that tends to not look that way. Would you agree that that's like a pretty strong statement to state?

Speaker 1: 2:58

Yes, absolutely, and so many of my niche neighbors within the perinatal space just have a different approach in terms of this, being like nice to have income or secondary income, which could totally be perfectly fine if that's the fit that you want for your family. But it doesn't have to be that way if you really want to step it up to be a true, consistent revenue generating company that can support a family of four.

Speaker 2: 3:29

I love it and we're going to get into that. We're going to get into your family of four, because you also have something else that's super impressive, which is three kids. You had three kids within 39 months. I can't even believe it. I'm like on one kid and he's two and I'm like I can't even imagine like you're almost close to having your third. Yeah, yeah, that's so wild. Okay, so let's back it up. So why don't we tell me a little bit about your business? Tell me about Thrive Breastfeeding. Like what are you guys best at? You know, how did that? What's your story? Like, let's, let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 4:00

So it's just me. So the the you guys, it's just me, I am I love that.

Speaker 1: 4:09

Yes, and mamas will call and say, well, you know, I'll talk to them on the phone or do a discovery call and they say, well, is it you that's going to be coming to the house or someone else? But Thrive, breastfeeding is just me. And I was home with my three children. I did leave corporate after my big was 18 months old and then had my daughter a year later and then my youngest son 18 months later, and I decided to stay home. But while I was home, I knew that I wanted to go back into the workforce, but at a capacity where I could be available for them and honestly, it was in the thick of babies and breastfeeding, having these kids back to back to back, and decided that I wanted to find something that was in that space. So that's when I started dry breastfeeding, when I was pregnant with Lex, my youngest, who is now 14. How old are your kids now?

Speaker 2: 4:56

18, 16, 14. Oh my goodness, okay, wait. So let's talk a little bit about that, because I've talked to other, you know, lactation experts, breastfeeding experts, and sometimes their stories sound like this Like I had a really hard time breastfeeding or I experienced like a terrible lactation consultant in the hospital, or something like that.

Speaker 1: 5:15

Right.

Speaker 2: 5:16

Or by my third baby. You know he wouldn't latch and he had to move into formula. So I hear a lot of these like very personal stories of like their own personal journeys around feeding and that's what inspired them. Does that relate to you at all? Like, or was it more that you were just in the thick of baby? Like how do you? How does one say like I'm going to become a breastfeeding expert, because it is like so niche.

Speaker 1: 5:41

So I have an MBA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, in your neck of the woods of where you're from.

Speaker 2: 5:47

What Did you talk about that?

Speaker 1: 5:49

Yeah, right down the road from. You.

Speaker 2: 5:51

I went to Cal State, monterey Bay. That's where my degree's from.

Speaker 1: 5:54

I've read your stuff, so am I obsessed with you. But I know you're from that area, so I got my MBA.

Speaker 2: 5:59

You know, we got engaged in Big Sur. Like we got engaged in Big Sur, like okay, sorry, this is crazy. That's such a beautiful, did you go? Did you live there? Did you go telecommute?

Speaker 1: 6:08

No, no, I mean I went to graduate school there. I was a nanny for a family in Carmel and I just went to the son's wedding last year that I was picking up at their little private school in Carmel Valley. I just went to his wedding.

Speaker 2: 6:22

You know, my childhood nanny came to my bridal shower. She came to my bridal shower.

Speaker 1: 6:29

And I was like I know it's such a connection there. So I had the business mindset. So I knew I wanted to do something where I was having my own business, but something that I really cared about. The corporate before I had my children was always in sales with telecommunications or litigation support services and something that I'd liked. Certain companies that I worked for, but I never, ever was passionate about.

Speaker 1: 6:53

Yeah, they were jobs. So just trying to find something in that space where you're not so cliche but to help people. And no, I didn't, it's very transparent I didn't have issues breastfeeding. However, once I started going down that road of the education piece, that's when I felt so robbed of knowledge. I didn't know, and there wasn't a problem with latching or a horrible lactation consult, and I didn't even have the wherewithal to have that type of support lined up. But now in hindsight, I was in corporate. You had to go to a five-day kickoff retreat in New Mexico. I didn't know, you had to pump the whole time there. So then you come back and I was in my little breastfeeding mode and I came back with no milk.

Speaker 2: 7:38

I mean this is also I mean I'm just doing math this is also like 17, 16, 14 years ago Like I mean, yeah, I mean this is, this is not the, this is not Instagram, this is not people telling you. This is not the access of information. This is not like I can just. Google anything and get any like this is not like free the nipple. You know what I mean. This is like. You know, like.

Speaker 1: 7:58

I mean, we've seen a lot of.

Speaker 2: 8:00

We've seen a lot of paternal leave, like breastfeeding quarters and offices, like, oh my gosh, like those nursing stations inside airports. What are those called? Those little pods? You know right, little pods. Yeah, I mean, this is a whole new, new experience.

Speaker 1: 8:14

Yeah, yeah so it's the love for business with the wanting to do something that I actually cared about, and there's so much of being a lactation consultant that's around around creating relationships and connection and therapy and support and it was just natural. And from the minute I walked into a home to support a mom, I didn't know everything at first to do with breastfeeding, but I was good, I became your big sister. Then I was more like a friend because it was probably around your age, but now I'm your big sister.

Speaker 2: 8:41

No, but you know, what's funny is you totally have big sister vibes, like you have super big sister vibes, like you should even I don't even know if that's in your marketing, but like big sister, big sister breastfeeding, like I like, it's like yeah, so okay. So you grew and grew and it ended up clicking and working and yes.

Speaker 1: 9:00

And it started out really slow, probably like a lot of stories with moms in your space where it started out slow and I'd get a client and they wouldn't have another client for a couple of weeks or maybe even a month. I mean it just started and I had three kids. I mean my primary job was taking care of them and getting them to preschool and doing a co-op hippie thing where I had to be in the preschool. So it was very much back burner, but it was in place to grow. And then when my kids were seven, five and four, I very unexpectedly got separated, which then very quickly I was divorced and I had to put Thrive kind of on hold and I never completely gave it up. But at that time then I went back to corporate. I needed the stability of the income and the health insurance for myself and I did both for about 10 years and then it was during the pandemic that I said you know what?

Speaker 1: 9:57

let's do this now as a full time.

Speaker 2: 9:59

Would you do that again, knowing what you know now?

Speaker 1: 10:02

Leaving my side hustle or going back to my side hustle, or marrying that guy.

Speaker 2: 10:10

No, no. There's like an interesting thread here around corporate has this perception of security and benefits and all of it, and that running your own business is like the riskier path. But yet corporate doesn't really support and is very rigged against moms and families. So it's like I have very strong feelings when I hear, at least in today's society, when they're like I don't know if I can start my own business because I need that corporate job for their health insurance, and I'm like, oh my gosh, but there's so many ways you can. There's like, let's talk about it, like there's so many ways we can get health insurance. And I know it's big and scary, but I'm just curious, like you clearly are really good at running a lucrative business, and so I'm just I'm just curious, if you knew now, if you know what you knew now, like would you have stayed in that corporate for 10 years doing both, because that sounds like a lot of work. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 11:07

Maybe leaving sooner, but gosh, I'm such a Jersey girl at heart, with not having any type of woo-woo background, but I am so woo-woo now, and what happened was is when I found myself separated.

Speaker 2: 11:18

This is like the funniest. That is like the funniest thing I've ever heard. I'm such an old school Jersey now Woo. Like. I feel like there's a very niche set of people who will only understand that and I'm not one of them. But like, go Jersey, yes.

Speaker 1: 11:35

And, um, uh, old company reached out to me. So it's a very secure, great job fell in my lap and it's. It is what I needed at that time Because most of us your listeners living in Northern Virginia, I had to stay in my home and I had to be able to refinance. Well, at that time, doing a lactation consultation here, and there was no money and I had to qualify to get on a loan and you couldn't just have a family member buy it, it had to go on open market. So it worked out exactly what I needed at that time and I did work for I didn't love the industry but I did work for an amazing company. That was exactly what I needed at that time. But I hear you and I hear what you're asking, those fears that almost become excuses. There's always a way to figure it out and it should not be the reason. That was more like a fire drill, though.

Speaker 2: 12:29

That I had to have it there for what?

Speaker 1: 12:31

But do I agree with you?

Speaker 2: 12:32

There's other ways. Yeah, and I understand the refinancing too, because you know lenders. I mean, I even remember when I moved here from California I didn't realize this. Moving here, I already had my business in California and we moved here and we went and bought about like two houses within like two years during the pandemic, and it's like my income didn't even count because I didn't have an established business here for two years. There's invisible rules that we don't always know about until they're presented right in front of us and it's like well, shoot, how am I supposed to provide income statement? You know, like all of a sudden you're put into this situation where these very traditional systems don't really honor what you're doing as an entrepreneur as much. So I totally get that. So that's interesting. It's just like an interesting, interesting little side side combo about corporate versus entrepreneur. You know ship and the decisions that we're all facing, but you know three kids, newly divorced, growing a business.

Speaker 1: 13:29

I wanted to move into a condo or a townhouse, really far away from the life that we built, cause that's typically what happens you? Know where. I just was so adamant and keeping those kids in their home.

Speaker 2: 13:43

Are you guys still there? I'm just curious. Oh, yes, yes, so there. Oh, I love so there are still there. Yeah, I love that. Okay, so, fast forward, you leave corporate, your it's pandemic, which I feel like there should be like a whole subset of podcast episodes that are just like how the pandemic impacted your business choices, because I feel like this is such a common common thread here of like. Then the pandemic happened and I made this like big, bold choice. So how did that? How did that impact your specific business, though? Because, for new moms coming out of hospital, I mean, you're in COVID, you're coming into people's houses yeah, I'm sure there was so much protocol that you had to adjust to, I mean that's. You were like in the thick of hey, we're not doing this remote, we're not doing this virtually, and everyone's. We were riddled with fear, you know of. We don't want to get sick.

Speaker 1: 14:35

And all of that was there, mariah, I mean especially with the newborn baby. However, you have to remember I was coming out of corporate. That was my primary focus.

Speaker 1: 14:45

So, I didn't have any clients anyway. So when people are like, oh, is the COVID really impacting your business? I'm like I don't know. I had three clients this month, so it wasn't like I was up and running and thriving and had all this revenue and then it came to a screeching halt. I left and was starting a business, even though it was, you know, the LLC and the insurance and all those things were in place from being a side hustle for the last decade. It wasn't up and running as a true business. So yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:14

In terms of client volume. In terms of client volume.

Speaker 2: 15:16

Correct, yeah, correct, so yeah, in terms of client volume in terms of client volume.

Speaker 1: 15:18

Yeah, yeah, correct, so it didn't feel like it impacted me in terms of getting clients, because I didn't have any anyway.

Speaker 2: 15:25

I get it. How was that for you coming out of COVID, I guess, when I mean, was that you know? I mean, have you just felt over these past four years like you grew your business on this like the height of this pandemic? And then the pen, almost like, if you look at like a curve, like on a graph, it's like the pandemic is fading Right and your business is growing. And here you are, and now you're like, I'm sure, when all the mandates and all of that, I mean I'm sure you were just like, let's go, like full, full force ahead.

Speaker 1: 15:56

Let's go, let's go. But at the same time the timing was beautiful because I could ramp up naturally and organically because there was a pandemic. While I was getting my systems in place and figuring out tools and taking my cell phone that I took all those texts coming in from moms frazzled and freaking out. That was like the next text was my mom. Are you coming over for dinner on.

Speaker 1: 16:17

Sunday, and then I got the tools in place that now I have a separate HIPAA compliant portal that has its own telephone number. So in a way it was a blessing because it let. It's not like I just got crushed with clients and I didn't have the infrastructure as we came out of the pandemic and as I got busier it was a nice cadence to get up and running really yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:39

So let's talk about systems. I love that you've mentioned systems, because it sounds like that's probably what took you from your business at one level and really up leveled right, yeah. So what does that look like? What do the systems look like for you today that you know are like the backbone of your business?

Speaker 1: 16:59

day that you know are like the backbone of your business. So to expose you to the systems is some type of a business coach and it feels really freaking scary to put your money out there when you're not making that much. But I will tell you, mariah, every time I've had a business coach and I keep evolving to bigger goals, I have made that money back and then some. So to tell me even what system to use, I have a business coach.

Speaker 1: 17:20

First was a slayer side hustle, meaning like how do you take your side hustle to full time. And then I had a systems coach and some of those systems like, as I mentioned, you gotta have a designated telephone number. You have all this blowing up and your brother's beeping in that was a game changer. To kind of keep all of that separate. Having an accounting system in the back end, being able to schedule my clients without getting on the telephone with them every single time and feeling like they needed to hear my voice they don't. They just want to know what time and what day that you're coming and kind of getting out of your head about all these things that were clunky and inefficient and putting you know things in place that make sense.

Speaker 2: 18:03

Yes, Automations, Automations, yeah yeah. Calendaring, CRMs, all of the things, invoicing, all of it, everything, yeah, Okay. So what I really want to talk to you about, how do you inspire and encourage this whole industry of, I don't know, like birth workers, doulas, home birth midwives, providers that work in this space that otherwise could be kind of viewed as like soft right, Kind of like I work with moms, I work with birthing moms. You know I'm a lactation consultant and you're over here, like wait a minute, you're running like a powerhouse business. So how do you go from? How do you go from undercharging, right, Not charging enough for your services, working in an industry that I think greatly undercharges their services across the board mostly, and people can come at me and it's fine and it's cool. But, like I have a lot of coaching clients who I'm just like you should be charging like $5,000 for this service, Like you and I just talked about before we pushed, you know, record, like what can you, what can you share with them?

Speaker 2: 19:23

You know about opening all your closets behind you. You know what I mean. But, like, how can you like, pour into them? Like, how can you inspire them and encourage, like listen. All of your businesses could and should be a six figure business model Like. All of your businesses could and should be a six-figure business model Like what's missing, I guess Know your worth.

Speaker 1: 19:42

You have to really realize your worth and it is a bleeding heart and many, many people in this industry, myself included, just love to help people and some of it's selfish. I get so fired up I played this Voxer message over and over again last night because this mom was crying because our baby wouldn't take a bottle and I got her. It's usually the dad and I hate to get into traditional roles, but there is a you know the dad and the money thing say I would have paid double or you were worth every penny, or I don't care how much this costs, and I think we really need to like own that. And I think it wasn't a light switch that came on that I felt that confident and empowered and a lot of it does have to go to my coaches and really doing personal development and these podcasts that I listened to driving all over Northern Virginia and DC about talking about those things.

Speaker 1: 20:48

But it's knowing your worth and then what that evolves into is how you're packaging your services, what your pricing looks like, and I'll tell you. When I first started it was turn and burn, turn and burn, turn and burn, and I was only serving moms who were calling after they were home on the couch, cracked and bleeding nipples freaking out, and I would run out the door with a cape on and save the day. And I don't run my business like that anymore and I still do have those instances, by all means. But most of my clients book me before the baby is born.

Speaker 2: 21:19

And it's not a one-time visit.

Speaker 1: 21:21

We are working together for, you know, three months plus and we're preventing. Oh, I have such a great example, Mariah. I had a mommy yesterday. She hired me with her second baby. After the baby was born, Weight gain issues, pumping, triple feeding, I mean it was so much work.

Speaker 2: 21:40

Wait, was she me Was she me, because I have all that's. I was literally like my son dropped three pounds in three weeks when he was born. Yes, yeah, which is?

Speaker 1: 21:48

terrifying, horrible. Yeah. So she had that experience with her son. So when she was pregnant with the baby girl, she hired me, booked me ahead of time, and then I you know you ensure my availability and I have her blocked out on my calendar. And she said to me yesterday I want to be a poster child for what happens when you wait and try to clean up a mess afterwards, versus having you from the very first conversation supporting you while she's in the hospital to now where she is making tons of milk. The baby just gained 10 ounces in a week, which is a crazy weight gain. She's thriving. Sleeping Mom is so confident and calm.

Speaker 2: 22:28

So confident and so calm. It's like how can you even put a price on that? The mom is calm. When I think about my fourth trimester and I think about just my entire postpartum experience, I would never use those words. I would never use the words confident and calm. I would say we were scared and we were under-resourced and we were angry. That's how I described my postpartum.

Speaker 2: 22:52

I had an abusive birth in the hospital. Angry. I had a pediatrician who just kept taking breastfeeding away. Scared, angry, right. And then I'm triple feeding, I'm pumping and nursing and he's not. He's not transferring, and so he's. And because of all that, it led to straight up contact napping and so then the feeding turned into a sleeping issue, which that's really hard to explain. Without feeling like a total asshole who doesn't love a good contact nap, you know what I mean. But when you're doing it for six months and a mom is stuck inside of a room for three, two hour naps and your husband's just out there mowing the lawn and going to Home Depot, and like I'm, like I'm in there, like wanting to lose my mind, and I'll tell you.

Speaker 1: 23:36

Mariah, it's gotten such a trendy nice name, contact napping and I hear it all the time and I'm all about going to your baby's every need and picking them up when they're crying.

Speaker 2: 23:46

And I love when Henry falls asleep on me now, oh my God, I love a contact nap. I'm like, yes, but six months of it. But when a mom tells me she cannot put her baby down, my first thought is is that baby well fed? No, no, and no one's sleeping and no one's well fed. And I mean we're all, all of us, we're all a representative, and it's a shit show.

Speaker 2: 24:07

And then you know, I had to learn really quickly. Like the pediatrician is not a lactation expert. The pediatrician really just wants to get formula in that baby to get the weight gain up, and I respect that. I respect that he has his eyes on like one thing and it's making sure that baby gains weight, and like he's not looking out for me. And that's what. That was what I had to really learn.

Speaker 2: 24:27

So, anyways, I just how can you even put a price on a package that says, hey, like if you had like a traumatic first time baby birth, like in X, y, z, xyz? I always say I also would have paid double for my sleep coach, because you don't know what you don't know until that service has worked and your family has benefited from hiring that provider. The minute we all were sleeping like 12, 13 hours a night, I mean I could literally feel my brain healing, like I could feel. And there's so much research on postpartum ADHD and dysregulation from like sleep trauma. Oh my God, I could go. I mean it's like how can you put a price tag on like, hey, do you want your brain to literally feel better and so you can like function as a human being?

Speaker 1: 25:20

You can't and we're spending that money. Most people in this area are spending that money period somewhere else. So it may sound like really luxurious to spend a few grand on a lactation support, a breastfeeding support package when they're there for you for the first several months. And that might sound like crazy, because you're not that bougie, but I open my freezer and I don't consider myself extravagant on certain services, but I have that Ollie dog food for my dog and I don't carry a designer bag. I don't, but I have these types of support coaches or pay a therapist out self-pay.

Speaker 1: 26:05

That's not through my insurance, or you know, or there's services I go to.

Speaker 2: 26:08

I go to a gynecologist who's out of pocket, right Cause she's, you know 90 minutes. You know Courtney's my client.

Speaker 1: 26:17

I don't. I don't go to Courtney cause she's my client, but weird.

Speaker 2: 26:21

I'm like.

Speaker 1: 26:21

Hey, how's your?

Speaker 2: 26:22

social media. I'm getting like an annual exam, yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:27

Yeah, so you're spending it somewhere. And I had the most gorgeous stroller in my neighborhood. It was beautiful, my nursery was hand-painted and a teeny, tiny house. But no, I get it, I get it.

Speaker 2: 26:40

We like I just had like a sister on here and we were talking about you know they have a whole theory on like the stuff, like just we have too much stuff, like we don't need to have these full like registries of stuff. We need to be supporting moms by giving them services.

Speaker 2: 26:56

you know services like have a services registry so I get what you're saying and I'm sure that your business model I don't know because I haven't like looked at your like packages and things like that but I'm sure you make it accessible, even if it's like, let's say, two, three grand, whatever you were saying like thousands of dollars, whatever. I'm sure you have payment plans. I'm sure you have ways to make it feel like this is an investment that is doable and once it starts working, it's like that ease of knowing I made the right choice. I mean, you can't take that back. I hired a doula that like didn't show up to my birth. So let me tell you yeah, I mean she was.

Speaker 2: 27:33

She ended up being there for the last 45 minutes, like, and that's not really when I needed her. I needed her for like the whole time I was screaming for an epidural and I had like no doula Okay. So I know what it's like to invest in something that maybe didn't work out. You know like really feel good. And I also know what it feels like to invest in that sleep coach who I am like I will stand on the mountaintop and scream her name to every new mom who will like sleep is so weird. Sleep training, sleep coaching is so people have so many opinions about it. But anyone who struggles in that, I'm like please go to Lake Country, sleep please. And so I feel like your business, what works really well for you and what you do is that, because it's so personal, because it's so intimate, because it's so life-changing for the mom, for the family and the baby, it's like I'm sure your referral network is so beautiful, beautiful.

Speaker 1: 28:27

It is beautiful and many mamas don't know that you can submit it and many, many of my clients get reimbursed, some at 100%, some at 50%, some at 40%. You can definitely use your FSA or HSA, so it's a lot of times not even as expensive as it initially sounds. I had a family here from China. They had no support and they were so insecure about even picking up the baby so they just kept booking my luck and, of course, by month five it was beyond breastfeeding and we were like, okay, we're going to go and put the baby in the car and you're going to go to Mosaic and have a cup of coffee.

Speaker 2: 29:03

Oh, my gosh. Oh, like there was just so much anxiety that they just yeah, but their insurance covered all that support. So actually that's a really that's an interesting. That's actually a whole other interesting conversation, because my CPA is always telling us to get an F. What a whole other interesting conversation because my CPA is always telling us to get an F.

Speaker 1: 29:21

What is it?

Speaker 2: 29:26

F-H, f-s-i or H-S-I. Yes, okay, flexible health spending plan thing, right, but apparently when you're an entrepreneur and you own your own business, there's a tax benefit to having that. And so think about it Like there could be a whole training, like you should be partnering with a CPA and you should be doing a whole training about hey, do you want to go plan your birth? Like, do you want to go plan your birth? Like, if, okay, we want to have a second baby. We want to be pregnant within the next year. I'm 38. God, I already. I can already feel my body like being so old. But okay, so I want to have a baby in a year. So I want to go have a baby in a year.

Speaker 2: 29:57

Wouldn't it be so great if, like Amy and like said CPA had some class about like, hey, this is how you're going to pay for all your like quote unquote air bunny coat, like bougie providers. I want them all. I mean give me all of them. Give me Amy, give me the sleep coach, give me a doula that will show up Like, give me a whole. I want them all. I want them all. Give it all to me, because it's the hardest thing I've ever done was bring a baby into the world, right, and so wouldn't it be so cool if you like had something that like taught moms how to like hey, like let's get this like covered for you. Like, let's figure out, like the financial support that your business can like shield some of that, right, because you have it there.

Speaker 1: 30:52

And this is a perfect example of why.

Speaker 2: 30:53

Having a coach is so invaluable because you just took this conversation, as you know, with your biz therapy hat on and showed should work with Angie, tony, find all mom CPAs and if they're setting up these flexible health care spending whatever acronym, acronym, acronym they should give they should have lists of providers. They should have lists of providers and they're in a local area like hey and don't, don't forget, when you're having your ex baby, not only is that baby a write off, not only you know what I mean. There's like. So much.

Speaker 2: 31:21

You much, you're hired, you're hired, yeah, you're my next coach. Yeah, so funny. But I do think that there is a way that, in terms of like the investment piece, and I think that that's like let's, let's make this a cohesive conversation now for our non ADHD listeners. Let's go back to this thought of like how can we get those doulas paid more, how can we get those other birth workers paid more, how can we get those lactation consultants paid more? And I think, just having this conversation of how you have payment plans, how you package your services, how you talk about those results, how you have those systems that don't make you involved in every single part of the onboarding, offboarding, sales piece, because I know your numbers, I know what you're doing as a single. You are your boss and your coworker and your employee. You are a party of one over there making really good revenue in this traditionally non-revenue generating big revenue field.

Speaker 1: 32:13

So I do, Mariah. And guess what? I'm at every lacrosse game. I'm at every volleyball game. Track me. I take my daughter to private one-on-one volleyball coaching every Friday. I pick up my son from school all the time which is a five-hour round trip of what you emphasize in terms of still being present for my kids, because here is your newsflash and I'm going to get choked up even talking about, but you are as obsessed with your teenagers as you are with your toddlers and your babies.

Speaker 2: 32:47

Look at those big, do you like beyonce? Because they're called alligator tears. I love them that's beautiful you're.

Speaker 1: 32:55

You're gonna want to be just as free, just as engaged, and maybe not walking around them in the backyard with the little overalls on and the chickens and all that, but you're still want to be showing up and available and present and and that's what these businesses also allow you to do, which to me, of course I help. I love, love, love helping moms. Of course I help, I love, love, love, helping moms. But the biggest gift of all is how I'm available for my kids. I'm not on a Zoom call with some you know 10 men wanting to poke my eyeballs out with Talking about telecommunications.

Speaker 1: 33:28

Yes, and not being able to, you know, drop off at the bus stop or, you know, be there in the stands waving. And also, don't you feel like your kids, not your parents, your Jersey parents? I?

Speaker 2: 33:38

don't you feel like you're, don't you feel like your parents, your kids, not your parents, your kid, your jersey parents?

Speaker 2: 33:41

I don't know your kids yeah, don't you feel like your kids are like wow, look what my mom has built. Like I love that there's so many of these cliche quotes like be the ceo that your mom always wanted you to marry. Or like kids are going to grow up seeing how to run a business because their mom built it. It's like the entire ethos and vision for Made for Mothers is like we need to be putting mom CEOs on the biggest stage possible, the biggest platform, because we're doing what our male counterparts get all the credit for doing, and we're doing it typically from being the primary caregiver. You know those moms who are running businesses, who are like running to go pump or running to go home to feed their babies. It's like you're sustaining life, you are showing up, you're being present, you're being that entire world to that child, while also feeling like I'm recording this podcast while watching my son play in the yard with his dad and I'm like God, I love being on this podcast. I love this. I'm so fired up. I love having a business. I love this. And then I'm recording this podcast by watching my son play in the yard with his dad and I'm like God, I love being on this podcast. I love this. I'm so fired up, I love having a business, I love this and then I'm like.

Speaker 2: 34:43

And then I'm thinking like, does he have sunscreen on? You know what I mean? Like, did anyone put sunscreen on him? Like that's been like every fifth thought every time I see him run across the yard in front of me, this natural, biological mental load happening, like we have this mom, mom guilt is real. We want to be in both places at once and we want to be present for both, both things, and I just I wonder how our male counterparts sometimes feel about that. You know, I wonder if that is like a shared, a shared experience, because I don't really see anywhere out there with like dad guilt. I don't have. I don't never seen that on an Instagram and I know that it doesn't not exist.

Speaker 2: 35:23

But what I'm saying is moms like you who are getting emotional, thinking about their teens growing up and you being there and you have seen them through every single season of their. I mean, you've had this business for 13 years and your youngest is 14. You've run this business through every single season of parenthood. You're standing here like I have a super successful business and I have three well-adjusted kids and I was a single mom and like all of those things that you've triumphed through, it's like you should be, like getting. Where are you on Forbes? Why aren't you on like Business Weekly? You know, like where's your byline.

Speaker 1: 36:00

You know, like, and I know I have the different thoughts about the mom boss and you know you are a boss no matter what. But it is my thought on that is there is something even extra special about doing both, like, yeah, it's such a badass role, right? I mean, you're doing all of this and your first thought is always your kid, always. And I don't think it's the same with men, and I don't even think it's necessarily a knock on them, because there is a chip that is activated when that human comes out of your body. I think it's all biological and they don't have the chip, I know.

Speaker 1: 36:33

They don't have the chip, so you can't really be a total thought.

Speaker 2: 36:36

No, that's what I mean. I mean I've said this before, but I'm like listen, if a bear were to come on the property, I would hope that my husband's first instinct would be like kill the bear, attack the bear, and my first instinct would be like hide, henry, run Like. You know what I mean. Someone has to be biologically engineered to like really overly care about and protect the child.

Speaker 1: 37:03

You know what I mean Like, and so I know like when my son cries like I know it affects me differently.

Speaker 2: 37:05

I know our brains are wired differently. Of course it does. It's like you're a mom, no matter where you go, so that brain wiring is showing up in your business as well, so it's like you know, I, I struggle with that so much.

Speaker 2: 37:13

It's like I want to grow this huge multi, seven figure business model and I'm like, gosh, at what expense will that be to my baby? You know, what expense will that be to my family? Like, and it's weird that we, that's like the go-to, where it's like, well, wait a minute, if I grow something like that and it's so centered, aligned, it's purposeful, like in a positive way, like what will that do to my family? Like, what will my kids see? Like? So, yes, coaching, yes, systems and a lot of mindset, a lot of mindset, constant mindset. I love you and I both, you know, feel deeply about personal development along with professional development, but it's like it never stops, we do not arrive.

Speaker 2: 37:51

It never stops. We're not mastering, we're not just like, oh my gosh, yes, we've arrived, I'm fixed, I'm done, I don't need to like develop anymore as a human or as a mom or as a business owner. It's like it's non-stop and that investment should, should be something to be like proud of, to be like, oh yeah, I'm gonna invest in coaches, I'm gonna invest in therapists, I'm gonna invest in health coaches like just to be the best version of ourselves, so that we can continue to do all the things that we love and that we're really, I feel like, just destined to do, like you are clearly destined to do. Woo-woo Jersey, woo-woo, yeah.

Speaker 1: 38:28

I think so too, mariah, I really do, and I just heard on the podcast Getting my Steps In this week that you're more happier pursuing your goal than actually reaching the goal. So if your goal is that seven-figure business it's actually getting there. That will give you more satisfaction than actually achieving it. And when you do achieve it which I'm so confident you will then there'll be another goal. But it's actually that again kind of corny. But that journey there's a percentage of higher percentage of happiness, according to this podcast, and I think that there's so much truth in that because there's nothing that feels better than growing.

Speaker 2: 39:09

Well, do you ever? You know, it's like everything you wanted five years ago you have today. So you should be grateful and it's like, yeah, but like that's so outdated. Yes, yeah, I'm like a constant goal chaser. It's exhausting at times, but anyways, amy, I have just, I have appreciated this conversation so much. It's like gonna set the whole tone for like my day and my week. How can people find you? How can they work with you? You, what last sort of words of wisdom do you have?

Speaker 1: 39:39

Thank you, mariah, and I am semi-obsessed with you, so I'm just ecstatic to be on your show.

Speaker 1: 39:44

So thank you for having me as a guest, but Thrive Breastfeeding is my website. Thrive Breastfeeding is my handle on social media. That's where you can find me. I'm also, of course, available for moms and babies struggling with breastfeeding or not even. You know I'm going to reframe that Actually planning to breastfeed. I'm available, but I'm also in the process of becoming a certified coach, like 5X certification. So if you are a mama in this space, a business owner, and want some business coaching, that's something that I'm rolling out later this year.

Speaker 2: 40:22

Oh, I can't wait to share that and promote that and I can't wait to have you back on after you roll that out and we can talk specifically about that level of coaching and how you're supporting, you know, that whole industry of what I call birth workers, but it might not be the right term, but yes, all right, amy.

Speaker 2: 40:38

Well, I just adore you. I appreciate you so much. Thank you so much for your time and wisdom and thank you everyone for tuning in to the Made for Mothers podcast. If you like this, then show it. You know, show it. I just found out we are in the top 5% globally. We should have started with that, because data shows no one listens to the end of a podcast ever, so I'll probably have to repeat that somewhere. So thank you everyone who's rated and subscribed and left a you know review, because it really does just lift these stories up for all these awesome, forbes worthy moms in business.

Speaker 2: 41:15

Ok, thanks so much. Tune in soon. Yay, you just finished another episode of the made for mothers podcast. As always, you can find more details about today's show in the show notes and be sure to give us a review. Subscribe so you don't miss a chance to grow your biz from fellow moms. Are you wanting more one-on-one support or are you looking to learn how to market your business in a way so you can spend more time with your family and less time stressing about what to do next? Then follow along on instagram at mariah stockman or book a one-on-one biz therapy session with yours truly, and let's find that work mamahood harmony we all deserve until next time. This is your host, mariah stockman, and thank you so much for tuning in.