In case you missed it, I’m building a local doula practice from scratch and sharing the whole process as I go – I’m calling it the Summer Doula Business Build. Partly because I want to try it out for real as a side gig in Tucson. And partly because I know how many of our students and colleagues are craving honest, behind-the-scenes examples of what this work actually looks like when it’s built from the ground up. In a way that is aligned and sustainable and still very much alive.

This is a new experiment for me, even though I’ve been in birth work for a long time. I’ve supported over 120 women through birth during my student years and my seven years of midwifery practice. I’ve taught doulas and midwives, hosted a birth podcast, and co-wrote a whole book about it with Maryn. But I’ve never had a straightforward, local, client-facing doula business. I’ve done plenty of doula work on the side and in less capital D doula ways, but not like this.

So I’m starting fresh. I don’t think it’s forever. It might not even be full time. Maybe it’s just through the end of this year. Maybe it weaves in and out while I work my way through grad school. More on that another day. But it felt like something I want to try so I can dip a toe back into direct birth work. I am, for a variety of reasons, not interested in doing midwifery in Arizona, namely the legal and political climate. And I really do want to see what might be possible if I build a doula practice in my own way, without the gimmicks or the pressure to look a certain way online.

And since I’m doing it anyway, I figured I might as well let people in our doula training watch and benefit.
I’m going to be documenting what I’m doing as I do it. Deciding on the name. Making a logo. Writing the website copy. Building the offers. Setting things up. Sharing what works and what doesn’t. When I have clients I’ll share stories with permission and keep letting you in on the insights, behind-the-scenes moments, and mistakes too. Because I know how helpful it would have been to see someone else do this with nuance and heart and basic practicality.

And a quick heads up. Next week we’re releasing an absolutely wild deal on our doula training. That offer will include access to this full doula biz build-along. If you’ve been on the fence, this is your sign to stay close and keep an eye out.

This first post is going out to everyone. After this, updates will live inside the training and course community. So let’s get to it.

Naming a business

I didn’t want to pick a name. And I really didn’t want to pick a bad one. I almost went with “Oro Valley Doula” because it’s great for SEO and I wouldn’t have to think about it more. And honestly, I’ll probably still use that term quietly on my website and in the page names so people can find me. But it didn’t feel like anything. It sounded like a lawn care business. To be clear though – this would be a great name for more doulas who were just starting out and didn’t have the experience and background I do.

When I first sat down to brainstorm more creative names, I immediately put down the phrase “beauty way” because that concept resonates so deeply for me. It has been part of my own healing and spiritual path over the past few years. Being in right relationship. Walking in reverence. Restoring the sacred. But I didn’t want to use language that doesn’t belong to my lineage (this is a Navajo concept) or lived experience just because it sounds beautiful.

So I started asking some better questions.

What is the space I actually hold in birth?
What am I offering that isn’t already out there?
What do people feel when they work with me (you can ask people this for clues, even if they haven’t worked with you as a doula)?

What kept coming up was this: I don’t sit neatly in any of the usual categories. I’m not trying to fix the system but I’m not pretending it’s fine either. I’m not the overly naive “birth always works” type who thinks essential oils are going to save the day. I’m not hyper-clinical or evidence-only either. I’m not selling sacredness and I’m not telling anyone how they should feel. I just show up. I hold space. I love the woman who is birthing. I love connecting women to each other and creating community in a radically friendly way. I bring a huge amount of experience and skill. And I bring zero dogma.

And I trust what can happen when people are met in this more expansive and mysterious way. What is any of that called though, or how to think about/describe it?

That is the third space.

It’s a real concept in postcolonial theory, but it also shows up in Parts Work and shamanism and even in architecture. It refers to the space beyond binaries. Or non-ordinary reality. A space that doesn’t belong to one side or the other but allows something new to emerge. In the article The Rise of Third Place and Open Access Amidst the Pandemic, Emma Wood says, “The term refers to space that is separate from home and work where we seek conversation, neutral ground, and comfort in feeling connected. Examples include bars, coffee shops, churches, and beauty salons.”

In The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg and Karen Christensen describe key traits of third spaces (did you know I have a sociology degree? now ya do!). A third place is open and inviting. It’s comfortable and informal. You feel like you belong. It’s unpretentious and not fancy, with everyone on the same level. It has regulars, and often a host who welcomes you in. Conversation is the main activity, not productivity. And laughter is frequent. There’s room for jokes and banter and humanness.

It’s a container that doesn’t require people to show up in a certain way or believe certain things. It’s not fancy. It’s not clinical. It’s not performative. But it’s alive, relational, and deeply human. It’s where something real can happen.

Beyond a physical space, it is an emotional space where meaning gets made in relationship. Where we stop trying to choose between false options and get curious about what else might be possible.

Birth is that.
Doula work is that.
And that’s the space I hold.

So I’m calling this project Third Space Doula.

It makes room for all of it. The Parts Work I integrate into prenatal visits. The “who knows” attitude I have towards more testing and interventions. The flexible, aunty like postpartum support I offer to existing clients. The presence, the photography, the deep advocacy I bring whether someone is birthing at home or in a hospital. It makes room for being wise and practical, trauma-informed and magical, nonviolent and not performing. It makes room for being a woman doing this work in real time, in a real place, with a real heart. It is a nod to the fact that this is also experimental and real for ME as a human being.

If you’re following along with this Summer Doula Business Build, this is where it all begins.

Soon inside the student plaform I’ll share the process of making my yet-to-be-made logo. Then how I’m writing my website copy. Then videos of me actually building out the site (and then so much more!). But if you want the full experience, that will only be available through our indiebirth.org/doulaessentials”>Sacred Sisterhood Doula Training. If you already know you want in, you can join us anytime here:
👉 indiebirth.org/doulaessentials