Women empowering women
It’s a phrase, often use as a hashtag, we hear and see a lot these days. It’s a focus on moving away from catty girl culture to lifting each other up. I think we can all admit moments of jealousy as women, but it never leads to anything positive, right? I have seen jealousy motivate women to do horrible, ugly things to others. And while it is so much easier said than done to flip that script and turn jealousy into admiration and motivation… it can be done.
When I started to feel the call on my heart to turn my interest and passion in labor and delivery into a birth doula and videographer career, I knew my goal was to empower women. I knew I wanted to help Indiana mothers believe in themselves. I wanted to help mothers arm themselves with information, advocate for care the way they saw best fit, and in the end achieve a birth they would feel at peace with. I knew I wanted to be the first ‘women’ in the ‘women empowering women’ phrase.
What I didn’t expect is to be empowered by so many others. Talk about flipping the script.
The first do to this for me, was my a fellow birth photographer. She documented my birth last year and when I went to her with this call on my heart, I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted her opinion on the field. I wanted her advice on how and where to get certified as a doula. I wanted information. She of course offered that, but she also shed love and support on my journey.
I was cracking into HER field. Maybe even stepping on toes… This photographer is an INCREDIBLE artist. Her photography is beautiful. My focus is videography. But birth documentation is birth documentation. She would have had every right to be bothered by another person entering the field of those vying for birth bookings. She wasn’t.
Since then many other doulas and birth photographers, often known as doulatogs, have shown support by welcoming me into the birth worker community. I’ve been invited by midwives to tour offices and get to know their staff. I’ve had chiropractors and OB-GYN offices ask for my information to provide to patients. The entire community has opened their arms to me, my work, my dreams, and made me feel empowered. What a blessing!
Starting a new career can be scary. My skills aren’t new, but offering them in this way is. If you’d like to know more about that… I encourage you to check out my bio page at the Behind the Lens button.
But it sure is easier with support. I hope that is what I can offer to others in this community as well and to the mamas I serve. Everything is easier with support.
And always remember happiness and success are not available in limited quantities. There’s not a success pie on the table and when someone else gets a big huge piece, you have to eat less. It doesn’t work that way. We can all be happy and successful and eat a huge piece of pie.
