Meet Rebekkah Traptow | Full Spectrum Doula & Maternal Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rebekkah Traptow and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebekkah, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I grew up watching my dad build a business from the ground up using his education and experience in his field. I always wanted to follow in his footsteps.

About a year and a half before I embarked on my journey to becoming a doula and maternal educator I, unfortunately, fell into the MLM (multi-level marketing) “own your own business” scheme as it sounded like the perfect way to not only start my own business but to love, encourage and help others as I did. Needless to say, I inevitably became part of the 99% that lose money and ultimately “fail” in an MLM “business” (if you can even call it that). I’m a huge believer in the concept of “failing forward” so I took the knowledge that I wanted to start my own business and paired it with my desire to love, encourage, and help others, specifically women and moms, and began exploring potential, legitimate vocations that could facilitate my doing that!

It wasn’t long before I registered for full spectrum doula training and subsequent childbirth educator and breastfeeding educator training and started my doula practice; Love First Maternal Support. As I built my practice I realized there was a huge need for business and education tools that were easy to use and accessible to doulas and educators. I couldn’t find any that fit my needs so I began creating them for my own practice and sharing what I had created in the doula community. I got messages daily from other doulas asking me for advice and support in business and how to educate their clients. Again, my desire to love, encourage, and help others led me to create The Birth Work Company and provide other new and aspiring birth workers with the tools they needed to make starting their own businesses easier!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I think the main thing that sets The Birth Work Company apart is that the “big idea” behind it is global, not in terms of potential profit but rather in terms of the impact my products and services can have on birth workers and their clients alike. How much stronger would our communities be if each and every family was supported by a birth worker with a strong support network and the tools to meet their educational needs? I believe it could change the world.

I believe in accessible and practical community care and am on a mission to equip and uplift birth workers to provide comprehensive education and support to their communities. I do this in a couple of different ways. The first is with business tool templates like contracts, client forms, and detailed breakdowns on how to start a doula business. The second is with easy-to-digest, evidence-based educational handouts, workbooks, guides, outlines and curriculums beautifully designed for doulas to print or send digitally to their clients. Third and finally is by offering practical doula business startup and growth coaching (very soon to be online classes).

Whether someone is just getting started or a seasoned birth worker, I believe that I can provide the tools and resources they need to elevate their business, provide their clients with next-level childbirth and postpartum education, and as a result create a ripple effect of happy, healthy, and supported families all over the world. I am beyond proud to be a part of that even on the most basic level.

The story behind The Birth Work Company is rather accidental. I began creating education tools for my own Doula business, Love First Maternal Support. I could barely afford my domain name much less the thousands of dollars it would cost me to get someone to put my passion onto paper! I struggled to find practical and affordable tools for my business so I did what any tenacious and frugal small business owner would do and DIYd what I needed.

As I shared what I had created with my clients and other Doulas, I discovered a real need in the Doula workspace for quality, accessible, easy-to-digest and use handouts and educational tools (that didn’t cost a fortune in ink to print). I strongly believe that every Doula deserves to have quality resources, handouts and tools to run their businesses and serve their clients regardless of their design capabilities. Out of the need that I saw, The Birth Work Company was born!

I will say that that story makes it sound a lot easier than it actually was. It took me months to learn graphic design and find software that would work for what I had envisioned. I landed on Canva which is “easy to use” once you get over the steep learning curve. I researched contract writing and figured out what was important to have in writing before As I gained experience and supported more families I compiled what I saw to be the most practical, evidence-based information into single-page handouts and easy reference guides. I took multiple branding, design, and marketing workshops and worked to figure out what practices fit my values, mission, and vision best. Looking back on it all now I’m impressed when I remember that I did all of that while being a mom to 3 little ones under the age of 5, working with birth and postpartum clients, and running a dayhome.

It may surprise you to find out that the biggest challenge I faced came from my own brain. I was diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year. Not only did I struggle with implementing important business-building strategies like marketing tasks and planning consistently, but a lot of the time I felt like I was battling my executive dysfunction and trying to squeeze all my essential life and business tasks and creative work into sporadic bursts of hyper fixation and motivation. Things that seemed easy and second nature to others (I mean REALLY simple, like brushing your teeth in the morning) felt overwhelming and took a lot of energy for me to do once let alone on a regular basis. I started saying “I’m just following the dopamine” when explaining why I moved from task to task, struggling to complete said tasks and in no specific order because I felt like I couldn’t do anything unless it tickled the reward centers in my brain. If I didn’t “feel like it” it was nearly impossible to force myself to do it. Rejection-sensitive dysphoria is another fun side effect of ADHD so the fight to ignore the near-constant feeling that I was an imposter not only in my career but as a business owner and mother no less was a hard one. The only way I know how to describe the feeling is like learning I was playing a video game on “hard mode”. Getting medicated was like flipping the switch back to “normal mode” but something I wouldn’t have done without the love, encouragement and support of my family, therapist, and friends.

The lessons I’ve learned on this journey are countless, but perhaps most significantly I learned that small things add up. When I first trained as a doula and began building my practice I was overwhelmed by what it would take to reach my goals. In one of the business workshops that I attended, the instructor made an analogy that I will never forget; “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. To me, that meant simply showing up every day and doing the next thing trying to worry about the 99 other things on the list. Even unmedicated me could get behind that.

When people read or hear my story I want them to know that there is a place for them at the table. In a day and age where almost everyone has a “side hustle,” it can feel like your big idea or passion is already being done/pursued by a thousand other people, saturating the market and leaving no room for you. In my opinion, this is only true if you are getting into an MLM, but I digress. The message I want to make clear here is that you don’t need to be the most educated, talented, or even the most qualified in your field to put your magic, whatever that is, into the world and have it be received and celebrated! The Birth Work Company brand, mission and vision are all about uplifting and equipping birth workers to do just that within their businesses and communities.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Central Alberta has some of the most beautiful places to visit! I am a huge fan of sushi so a stop at Sushi BBQ in Calgary for all-you-can-eat would be a must! For my “fish are friends, not food” pals I would recommend Blaze Pizza for some of the best build-your-own pizza I’ve ever had (with lots of vegetarian and vegan options). For dessert, hands down The Little Ice Cream Shop on 50th. Red Deer has some beautiful walking and bike paths throughout the city, while I haven’t been on a bike since I was 16, I could be convinced to take a stroll through the city! Alternatively, the city has motorized scooters that are a blast to ride on a nice day! Crimson Lake is a beautiful spot to hike and enjoy the water either on a boat or on the beach! Popular attractions like the West Edmonton Mall and waterpark, Royal Tyrell Museum, Banff, and the Panorama Hot Springs are always a fun time.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I could write a list a mile long of people I would give credit to for where I am and what I have accomplished! Those who have had the most significant impact are on my shortlist.

Shoutout to my parents who taught me the concept of “failing forward”! Growing up I was also taught resilience, which I think is one of the most important traits to possess if you want to start and grow a successful business. I was also showered with love and acceptance regardless of my successes or failings. All that together gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams, the drive to work hard for what I wanted, and the assurance that even if I didn’t land where I wanted to I would have a safe place to regroup and grow from.

Shoutout to bebo mia, the organization I completed my doula training with! It goes without saying that I couldn’t do any of what I do without the training and education I received from experts and instructors during their 4-month full spectrum doula training. On top of that, not only did I find in them a community of radically accepting and diverse people with whom I had a shared passion, but an invitation to dig deeper than my passion into what makes me as an individual shine.

And finally, a shoutout to my good friend, and fellow doula/serial entrepreneur, Chelsea Bootsman! I could not ask for a more supportive and encouraging friend. Chelsea pushed me out of the proverbial nest in starting a business around what I had created. The Birth Work Company wouldn’t be in existence if it hadn’t been for the hours of jam sessions and coaching me through the process of starting an Etsy shop. Not only did she support me as I grew my business, but Chelsea also held space for me and was a compassionate confidante for me during my difficult separation and eventual divorce. True friends are priceless.

Website: www.thebirthworkcompany.com

Instagram: @thebirthworkco

Other: Etsy Shop – www.etsy.com/ca/shop/TheBirthWorkCo

Image Credits
Shelby Story