In this episode, we basically hold up a mirror to our work lives and go, “Oh… THAT’S why we’re tired.” Fresh off a chat with Laura Suttin, MD, MBA, PCC , we unpack the wild idea that maybe sprinting through our careers like we’re being chased by a bear isn’t the healthiest strategy. Turns out, pausing, breathing, and occasionally acting like humans instead of productivity robots might actually help. 

We dive into team culture and realize—surprise!—your vibe as a leader is contagious. If you’re running around stressed and skipping lunch, your team’s not exactly going to be sipping tea and setting boundaries. We compare the classic “rise and grind” mentality with a more radical approach: not burning everyone out. 

Of course, we get real about burnout—what it looks like, how it sneaks up on you, and how it’s basically your brain waving a tiny white flag saying, “Please stop.” We talk about actually listening to those signals instead of powering through like it’s a personality trait. 

“The way you work sometimes just sets the stage for how you expect everybody else to work—even if you never say it out loud.” 

In this episode:

• Team Culture: Are we thriving or just tired? (1:25)
• Why self-care is not optional (4:56)
• The “CEO energy” we thought we have vs reality (8:00)
• Subtle clues that you might be heading toward burnout (12:44)

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5
• Connect with Dr Suttin: https://www.drlaurasuttin.com/
• The Self-Compassion Institute: https://self-compassion.org/
• The Purposeful MD by Laura Suttin: https://bookshop.org/a/110134/9798987370452
• Fierce Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff: https://bookshop.org/a/110134/9780062991058
• Drive by Daniel Pink: https://bookshop.org/a/110134/9781594484803

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Each month, Annie and Leah take a deeper dive into topics and information with an expert to give more insights on things that we might be incorporating in our clinical practice as well as entrepreneurs and business owners. They're bringing you this snippet today to give you a taste of what these deeper dives are all about.

Annie, Leah, and Dr. Laura Suttin MD, MBA, PCC, a physician and leadership coach, get into what it actually takes to build a healthy culture inside a private practice ecosystem. Whether you're managing contractors, mentoring interns, or just trying to figure out why the team dynamic feels off, this conversation will give you a framework for thinking about culture as something you build on purpose, not something that just happens around you.

Dr. Laura Suttin is a physician, former healthcare executive, certified coach, speaker, organizational consultant, and author of The Purposeful MD-Creating the Life You Love Without Guilt. With decades of leadership experience, Laura partners with healthcare organizations to realign leadership and culture around her proprietary Compass Framework: Purpose, Connection, Empowerment, and Joy. Her work addresses burnout at its root, by transforming misaligned, fragmented cultures into high-performing environments where people thrive, outcomes rise, and the business bottom line improves. Laura’s clients stop chasing short-term burnout fixes and instead build resilient, sustainable healthcare systems, where engagement grows and both people and performance flourish.

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5
• https://www.drlaurasuttin.com/
• https://self-compassion.org/
• 
  

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and **Instagram.**

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Recorded right after the March Deeper Dive on changing your EHR, this episode goes somewhere unexpected. Rachel walks us through her chart review process for Guiding Bottle Breakthroughs research, we get into using AI for data analysis without losing your mind, and the conversation lands on a question a lot of us are navigating: what do you do when your client already got advice from ChatGPT before they got to you?

“No amount of AI can make someone feel like they got a hug.”

In this episode:

• How to use AI tools to analyze your own de-identified chart data
• Why AI keeps getting bottle refusal wrong — and Rachel's framework for evaluating any source
• The case for human expertise in a world where clients are Googling before they call you
• Guiding Bottle Breakthroughs is going evergreen

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to Deeper Dive — $20/month, 50+ recordings going back to 2020
• Guiding Bottle Breakthroughs
• Choosing a charting platform: Annie's updated comparison post
• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5
  
  

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Each month, Annie and I take a deeper dive into topics and information with an expert to give us more insights on things that we might be incorporating in our clinical practice as well as entrepreneurs and business owners. We're bringing you this snippet today to give you a taste of what these deeper dives are all about.

If you've ever felt stuck on a charting platform you've outgrown and couldn't quite bring yourself to leave, this one is for you. Annie, Leah, and Rachel O'Brien get candid about the state of EHR options for lactation private practice — what they've tried, what almost worked, and why migration terror keeps so many of us exactly where we are.

In this episode:

• Why switching platforms is harder than it looks, even when you really want to
• What to look for (and what to watch out for) when evaluating your options
• The dyad charting problem — and why it's still unsolved
• Rachel's advice for new IBCLCs choosing their first charting platform

Links:

• Subscribe to Deeper Dive — $20/month, 50+ recordings going back to 2020
• Guiding Bottle Breakthroughs
• Choosing a charting platform: Annie's updated comparison post
  
  

Rachel is a IBCLC in Massachusetts whose popular blog is a favorite of both families and lactation professionals. Her signature style of humor laced with pragmatic compassion and guilt-free support has resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers and has led to a busy full-time private practice which includes virtual visits with blog readers from across the world.

Before her foray into lactation-land Rachel received her BA in English with a Journalism concentration and then worked in higher education for years. She became an IBCLC in 2015 after completing her Masters degree in lactation, during which she wrote her dissertation on low milk supply. Rachel was a full-time working, breastfeeding and pumping mom for all three of her children and now specializes in low supply, bottle refusal and bottle feeding problems, working parents, and LGBTQ+ families.

When not working with families you will find Rachel reading lactation books, taking lactation courses, and fervently posting in lactation Facebook groups. Her hobbies include reading, watching drag shows, and staring blankly off into the distance while she wonders what she’s forgetting to do.

In this episode, we gather for a post-show recap after our Deeper Dive into Sleep Coaching with expert Shelly Taft.

We kick things off by tackling the delicate dance between lactation support and sleep coaching—because helping babies sleep while helping them eat is basically the professional equivalent of juggling flaming swords while riding a unicycle. 

We also talk about something that helping professionals are famously bad at: self-care. You know, that thing we all enthusiastically recommend to clients and then immediately forget to do ourselves.

“15 to 20 minutes after the baby falls asleep is when they enter their deepest sleep state, so they're less likely to wake up.”

In this episode, we will cover:

• Self-care practices to help you start the day slowly instead of jumping into business (4:05)
• Moving away from hustle culture to create a more balanced lifestyle (9:06)
• Working with families facing sleep-related issues (18:24)
• The importance of collaborative learning (20:10)

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Connect with Shelly: https://www.shellytaftibclc.com/
• Listen to Shelly’ podcast, Baby Pro: https://www.shellytaftibclc.com/podcast/
• Check out the Habit Nest app: https://habitnest.com/pages/mobile-app?srsltid=AfmBOooWWkfcYXbNri_YvN4DbaG7HtqLpZhZfa1nGOs_Ov6eesP6RcWJ
• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Each month, Annie and I take a deeper dive into topics and information with an expert to give us more insights on things that we might be incorporating in our clinical practice as well as entrepreneurs and business owners. We're bringing you this snippet today to give you a taste of what these deeper dives are all about.

Let's talk about adding sleep coaching to your lactation business with Shelly Taft LPN, ISE, IBCLC.

Shelly Taft is a dedicated and compassionate healthcare professional with a deep commitment to supporting families through the early stages of parenthood. She is the founder and owner of Shelly Taft, IBCLC, a private practice providing individualized, judgment-free lactation and infant sleep support to families in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Shelly has been serving new parents since 2007, helping them navigate the complexities of breastfeeding, bottle feeding, and sleep challenges with evidence-based guidance and practical solutions.

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• **Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• **Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Each month, Annie and I take a deeper dive into topics and information with an expert to give us more insights on things that we might be incorporating in our clinical practice as well as entrepreneurs and business owners. We're bringing you this snippet today to give you a taste of what these deeper dives are all about.

Educating families about bottles is within the scope of practice for the IBCLC. And despite what some will say, it's NOT against the WHO Code to do so. Rachel O'Brien MA, IBCLC is our guest this month for our Deeper Dive into Private Practice. Join the conversation hosted by Annie Frisbie MA, IBCLC and Leah Jolly IBCLC of the Lactation Business Coaching Podcast. This is your chance to ask all 3 of us anything!

Rachel is a IBCLC in Massachusetts whose popular blog is a favorite of both families and lactation professionals. Her signature style of humor laced with pragmatic compassion and guilt-free support has resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers and has led to a busy full-time private practice which includes virtual visits with blog readers from across the world.

Before her foray into lactation-land Rachel received her BA in English with a Journalism concentration and then worked in higher education for years. She became an IBCLC in 2015 after completing her Masters degree in lactation, during which she wrote her dissertation on low milk supply. Rachel was a full-time working, breastfeeding and pumping mom for all three of her children and now specializes in low supply, bottle refusal and bottle feeding problems, working parents, and LGBTQ+ families.

When not working with families you will find Rachel reading lactation books, taking lactation courses, and fervently posting in lactation Facebook groups. Her hobbies include reading, watching drag shows, and staring blankly off into the distance while she wonders what she’s forgetting to do.

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Each month, Annie and I take a deeper dive into topics and information with an expert to give us more insights on things that we might be incorporating in our clinical practice as well as entrepreneurs and business owners. We're bringing you this snippet today to give you a taste of what these deeper dives are all about.

Why is pricing so emotional? We're all torn between wanting make our care accessible, but also valuing the time, training, and expertise we bring to our work with clients. It doesn't help that we're surrounded by online gurus telling us to create high ticket offers and funnels and only work 4 hours a week.

Thankfully, Maggie Patterson gets where we're coming from, and in this month's Deeper Dive we'll be exploring pricing that's both ethical and sustainable and (dare we say it) profitable!

Maggie Patterson is the editorial director at Scoop Studios and the creator of BS-Free Business. With two decades of experience, Maggie has spent her entire career in client services and has been a successful entrepreneur for over 15 years. Today, she works with service business and agency owners to build bs-free businesses that put trust first in everything they do. A podcaster and writer, Maggie is a vocal advocate for humane business practices rooted in respect, empathy and trust. She’s the host of the BS-Free Service Business podcast, and the co-host of Duped: The Dark Side of Online Business.

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• **Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• **Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Each month, Annie and I take a deeper dive into topics and information with an expert to give us more insights on things that we might be incorporating in our clinical practice as well as entrepreneurs and business owners. We're bringing you this snippet today to give you a taste of what these deeper dives are all about.

Understanding the WHO Code in the context of supporting families who not feeding 100% exclusively at the breast can feel daunting. This session aims to demystify the obligations of the private practice IBCLC to provide comprehensive care for all families in an ethical manner.

Allison Porter is an Attorney and Certified Breastfeeding Specialist who breastfed her son for 18 months and daughter until age 2. She's a TN girl born and raised in Memphis, TN, went to the University of TN Knoxville for undergraduate school, went to law school in Memphis, and currently lives in Nashville.

She currently practices Health Law focusing on healthcare regulatory compliance and managed care insurance denials after doing Employment Discrimination law for several years. Her main lactation passion is to be a resource on breastfeeding and pumping rights laws and advocacy.

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Each month, Annie and I take a deeper dive into topics and information with an expert to give us more insights on things that we might be incorporating in our clinical practice as well as entrepreneurs and business owners. We're bringing you this snippet today to give you a taste of what these deeper dives are all about.

Our first Deeper Dive with Rachel O'Brien, lactation consultant and blogger extraordinaire, was a fan favorite, so Annie and Leah with Lactation Business Coaching asked her back! This hour is packed with insights from her successful private practice.

Rachel runs her private practice in Massachusetts. She became an IBCLC in 2015 after completing her Masters degree in lactation, during which she wrote her dissertation on low milk supply. Rachel was a full-time working, breastfeeding and pumping mom for all three of her children and now specializes in low supply, bottle refusal and bottle feeding problems, working parents, and LGBTQ+ families.

While many IBCLCs were scrambling to take their consultations virtual at the onset of the pandemic, Rachel was probably sitting having a cup of coffee. Thanks to her wildly popular blog - a favorite of both families and lactation professionals - she had been servicing virtual visits with blog readers from across the world for a few years.

Rachel's signature style of humor laced with pragmatic compassion and guilt-free support resonates. Don't miss the opportunity to glean some awesome tips and strategies to running your private practice.

Each month we host a live Deeper Dive so you can connect with us, our special guests, and each other + get lifetime access to the recording!

Links and Resources

• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate
• Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/NsmGysHMAULW9o1z5

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.