Are you a risk taker or do you tend to overthink before taking action?

In this episode, we dive into the nuanced world of risk-taking, particularly in the context of growing a private practice.

Leah shares her tendency to be risk-averse and the overthinking spiral that can result from facing risky decisions. Annie, on the other hand, describes herself as someone who jumps into ideas quickly, often figuring things out as she goes. 

We explore the idea that both cautious planning and spontaneous action require their own forms of bravery and confidence.

“It’s worth it to take risks in your business sometimes.”

In this episode, we will cover:

• Learning from different approaches to risk (5:23)
• The importance of balance in risk-taking (7:03)
• Saying No to Protect Time and Energy (11:39)
• The Role of Planning in Risk Management (15:20)

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

• Check out our next Deeper Dive into Planning with Tenise N. Hordge MBA, IBCLC on May 20, 2024: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/course/deeper-dive-planning
• 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.

This month we are learning how movement can help your clients become and stay comfortable in their bodies while feeding and pumping with physical therapist Dr. Sheherezad Dubash.

Sheherezad (Sherry) Dubash is a board-certified physical therapist in Long Island City, NY with a career spanning over a decade. She holds a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and a Bachelor’s in Exercise Science and Nutrition from Rutgers University. Frustrated by overcrowded clinics that compromised patient care, she adopted a one-on-one treatment model, prioritizing quality, holistic recovery, and injury prevention. Committed to continuous learning, Sherry is a Registered Yoga Teacher (200-RYT), a Certified Kinesiotaping Practitioner®, and a Level I Reiki practitioner. She specializes in musculoskeletal and orthopedic injuries, integrating manual therapy, yoga principles, and Kinesiotaping® into her practice. Passionate about movement and alignment, she fosters a mindful approach to recovery. Outside of work, she enjoys running, traveling, cooking, spending time with her family, and hiking with her dog.

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.

This week, we’re getting personal, ethical, and just a little fired up. 

We’re talking about the formula-fueled elephant in the room: Bobbie’s new “free support” collab with NAPS, led by two IBCLCs. Yep, a formula company funding lactation support. 

This news has sparked strong emotions as it contradicts the core principles of our profession, particularly regarding the WHO code that seeks to regulate the marketing of infant formula. 

But fear not! We’re not just here to rant—we are here to rally. There are badass IBCLCs out there holding the ethical line (us included). So let’s keep fighting the good fight, supporting human milk feeding without selling out.

“ I'm an IBCLC and the human milk is mine.” 

In this episode, we will cover:

• The ethical concerns around IBCLCs partnering with formula companies (2:23)
• What the WHO code is (4:55)
• The rise of influencer-style formula marketing (9:23)
• Finding positivity in challenges (17:17)

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.

We are chatting all things low milk supply with Lisa Marasco, MA, IBCLC, FILCA, co-author of Making More Milk.

Lisa Marasco has been working with breastfeeding mothers for over 35 years and has been Internationally Board Certified since 1993. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Development with specialization in Lactation Consulting and was designated a Fellow of ILCA in 2009. Lisa is co-author of Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production, a contributing author to the Core Curriculum for Interdisciplinary Lactation Care, and a Cochrane Collaborative author. She is recently retired from WIC of Santa Barbara County as well as her volunteer position with La Leche League, but continues to research, write and speak.

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.

In this episode, we dive headfirst into the emotional topic that is client communication, especially the kind that happens when everyone’s stressed, sleep-deprived, and possibly holding a crying baby (or crying themselves). 

As a lactation consultant, it turns out, your mood matters. Shocking, right? If you're under-caffeinated, over-caffeinated, or just generally cranky, your ability to be empathetic can fly right out the window. 

Good communication means actually listening (and not just waiting for your turn to talk), choosing our words carefully, and never, ever being the reason a client walks away more stressed than when they showed up.

The goal? Set realistic expectations, offer encouragement, and stop ourselves from promising the moon just to avoid awkward silence.

" You have to put as much energy into training your communication skills as you are learning all the physiological reasons people have low milk supply. "

In this episode, we will cover:

• Why empathy is important as a lactation consultant (1:50)
• How to make difficult conversations easier (8:15)
• Balancing empathy with clinical skills (9:26)
• Using body language to help you communicate (13:20)

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.

This month Nichelle Clark, BS, IBCLC, IFC, HSC will take us through her journey supporting a family with triplets born at 32 weeks.

Nichelle Clark is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Infant Feeding Counselor (IFC), Holistic Sleep Coach (HSC), wife, and mom of two residing in Chesapeake, Virginia. She is the owner of a lactation private practice, SonShine & Rainbows Lactation & Sleep, which was inspired by her son and honors her fertility journey with him. Born and raised in Upper Marlboro, MD, Nichelle isUnited States Navy Veteran and hold a bachelors degree in Political Science. When she’s not spending time with family, she admins multiple online support groups for People of Color, providing breastfeeding support and lactation education to her community. As a prior exclusive pumping mom herself, Nichelle is a champion for breastfeeding parents to write their own rules and breastfeed their way.

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**

Today we are the ones being interviewed.  Julia, a rockstar student in UCSD's Pathway to Lactation program, slid into our DMs to share her journey and fangirl over the podcast (and reminded us that, yes, people actually listen to this thing).

The conversation begins with an exploration of a typical workday, punctuated by our varied responsibilities as lactation consultants. We also share what we love about our jobs like baby snuggles and supporting new mothers.

But let’s keep it real—our job isn’t all adorable yawns and milk-drunk smiles. We dive into the less Instagram-worthy parts of the gig too: mountains of charting (so. much. charting.), navigating the red tape of the healthcare system, and occasionally wanting to scream into a pillow. 

This episode is part pep talk, part therapy session, and all heart. Julia’s thoughtful questions lit a fire under us, and we walked away feeling like, “Heck yes—we were made for this.” Babies, parents, and yes, even that never-ending charting, bring us back day after day. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We spend a lot of time with these families. We see them for a lot of visits and I really want us to be valued in healthcare as specialists”

In this episode, we will cover:

• The joys of working with babies (6:03)
• Challenges we face as lactation consultations (8:15)
• What we would do differently when we first started (11:31)
• Our hopes for the future of our practice (15:28)

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.

This month we talk about keeping our businesses going while working through burnout with small business coach Michelle Ward.

Michelle Ward (she/her) is a business coachsultant (yup, she made up that term and is sticking with it) and CEO of Hello Business. Since 2008, she’s guided her clients to discover, launch, and grow their dream businesses. You may have seen or heard her in New York Magazine, NY Post, The Huffington Post, Etsy, Newsweek, Freelancers Union, USA Today, the Forbes Top 100 Websites for your Career list, Joyful Marketing, Real Talk Radio, Profit. Power. Pursuit., The Tiffany Han Show or hundreds of other media outlets. She’s also the teacher of Create Your Dream Career and Ditch Your Day Job, which were watched by tens of thousands of people on CreativeLive. When she’s not coaching, teaching or speaking, she can be found performing in musicals, drawing with her kiddo, or sitcom-binging with her husband.

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

In this episode, we take on the high-stakes world of office supply management, because nothing says “thriving professional” like frantically searching for a missing flange insert.

We discuss how to stockpile just enough essential supplies without drowning in a sea of unnecessary purchases. Plus where we store them in our small office spaces.

But it’s not just about space; it's also about the emotional rollercoaster of supply management. Annie confesses to the soothing yet regrettable power of retail therapy, which once resulted in an office overflowing with pumps but nowhere to put them. We acknowledge that while we may not have our dream workspace, we’re making do with what we do have and continuously refining our system.

 ”Good enough is really good enough.”

In this episode, we will cover:

• The issues with managing inventory (2:02)
• Storage solutions and limitations (9:27)
• Navigating space challenges (16:43)
• Creative solutions for supplies (21:47)

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.

In this episode, we dive into how our surroundings can make or break a parent’s already fragile sanity. Turns out, everything from the way we breathe (yes, even that) to where we sit down in someone’s living room can impact whether a parent feels supported.

From home visits to clinic spaces, we discuss how décor, lighting, and the strategic absence of clutter can prevent sensory overload (for both babies and adults). We also explore the delicate dance of being an "uninvited guest" in a family’s home—because nothing says welcome like showing up at someone’s most sleep-deprived, stress-ridden moment. 

So, tune in for some insights, some laughs, and a gentle reminder that sometimes, the best way to help new parents is simply by showing up, being present, and maybe dimming the lights just a little.

“ This is a safe space for you not to feel like you have to be a perfect human being.”

In this episode, we will cover:

• Being aware of the space we occupy and the energy we bring (3:06)
• How to transform clinical spaces (9:43)
• Enhancing the client experience (19:24)
• The importance of atmosphere (26:43)

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.