Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya Ambrose.
Hi Tanya, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hello! My name is Tanya Ambrose and I’m a Public Health Professional. I am also a Birth and Postpartum Doula, Placenta Encapsulation specialist, podcast host, content creator, and the Founder and CEO of the nonprofit Scrub Life Cares. My story, I’d like to say is unique. I started blogging back in 2017 after failing out of Nursing school. I like to say that I failed nursing school by .05 points. This is important to me because I was crushed and the program, I was in, the rule was that you had to sit out two years before continuing the program. I was shattered! I searched everywhere online to figure out what to do after failing out of the program and I wasn’t able to find much if anything. The idea came about to start a blog talking about my journey and experience as an aspiring nurse. From there, the blog grew from not only a blog about my journey in nursing but became a lifestyle blog where I talk about college life, share public health stories, and share tips about health and wellness. After failing out of my program, I took an alternative route to my dream. I made the switch and got my Bachelor of Science in Public Health.
Through that, I learned a lot. I developed a very keen interest in maternal and child health. I am a huge advocate for Maternal and Child Health. It is one of the reasons I decided to become a birth and postpartum Doula. I became a Doula to make a difference in the lives of women and families. To be an advocate and to ensure that every mother’s birth outcome is positive especially for mothers in the black community. As many would come to learn Black women are 3 to 5 times more likely to have a maternal death than white women here in the United States. I also founded my nonprofit organization Scrub Life cares where we are dedicated to improving The Well-Being of Youths In Underprivileged Communities and Promote Health Education. Our Mission is to start a conversation around period and women’s health and help to end period poverty and the stigma through service, education, and advocacy.
I truly believe it is my life’s purpose to be of service to others. What started as me occupying a small space on the internet turned out to be a blessing beyond measure. I was able to meet some amazing people and do amazing work in the community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Is there such a thing as a smooth path? If so please show me the map, lol. It has not. As someone who truly believes that my purpose is to be of service to others had to make a lot of tough decisions. As a young and fairly new entrepreneur, there have been many challenges. I had to figure out what my goal was, I had to decide if my business was going to be a product or service-based business or both. Once I made the decision, I had to research the different laws in the state of GA when it comes to starting a business and especially a service-based business. I had to figure out if I was able to run my business without it being registered in the state. That in itself was a challenge because as a Doula who went through the necessary training, I had to ensure that I was going to be protected from a law standpoint. If I’m honest, marketing was the most challenging part for me. Putting myself out to the world can be intimidating, my ultimate goal is to be of service to others so figuring out how I wanted to present myself to the world was hard. I have learned that networking on social media and showing up as my authentic self is key. From a content creator standpoint in an industry that is sometimes deemed saturated, not having the support you expected when you first start can be discouraging, but the goal is to keep pushing no matter what. This is a one-man show, I am the CEO, the accountant, the auditor, the social media manager, etc. I will say, even with the challenges, my passion continues to drive me.
When starting a nonprofit, it takes a lot of will and faith to bring your vision to life because not everyone will be able to see your vision or even walk the path with you. I was able to put myself in a position with my education and as a public health professional to help me get my nonprofit off the ground by way of professors and mentors. I did the same thing for my Doula business. I want to point out here that as hard as it may seem at times to ask for help, DO IT! Networking with people from your respective industry and reaching out to them is key and of course, do your own research.
As you know, we’re big fans of Labor With Tanya Doula Services and Scrub Life Cares. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
It is surreal that I can say I am the owner of Labor With Tanya Doula Services and I’m also the founder of the nonprofit Scrub Life Cares. This gives me chills every single time.
At Labor With Tanya Doula Services, I offer Birth and Postpartum Doula services with my Postpartum services, I offer both day and overnight support and Placenta Encapsulation Services. I also offer Childbirth education classes, lactation support classes, and recently in collaboration with a fellow Atlanta small black-owned business called Coloring In The Lines LLC, I recently introduced prenatal and postpartum massages to my growing list of services. Our postpartum support services also include personalized meal preparation, newborn sleep assistance, light housekeeping, and emotional support as I am an advocate for a mother’s mental health before but especially after birth. My priority is working within the black community, those in low-income and underprivileged communities, and providing services for all family dynamics. I truly believe that every woman and family should have the birth outcome they want. Granted life happens and things don’t always go as planned but my ability to advocate for my clients is what drives me to keep pushing. At Labor With Tanya, we are all about educating and empowering, part of our mission is to promote birth equity.
As for my nonprofit organization, we are dedicated to improving The Well-Being of Youths and women In Underprivileged Communities and Promote Health Education. Our goal is to start and further the conversation around period and women’s health and help to end period poverty and the stigma through service, education, and advocacy both in Antigua and here in the greater metro Atlanta and Middle Georgia area. We have distributed food packages, school supplies, as well as packages with sanitary napkins and other basic essentials for young girls and women in various communities in Antigua and Atlanta. We are on the verge of launching our period poverty program both in Antigua and Atlanta with our Essentials for the girls initiative where we will be donating essential items such as sanitary napkins, deodorant, hair care items, etc., to our young girls and women in the community.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I can’t remember ever being asked this question. This is a good one because the woman I am today is a result of my childhood. I was born in England but grew up on the beautiful Caribbean island of Antigua. Growing up on an Island where family, community, and togetherness were at the forefront is a reason why I’m motivated to build a community and be of service to others. I was very involved in sports and community service. I was a young girl who was not afraid to speak up, especially when something or someone did me wrong. I remember being part of the Girl Guides/Scouts organization and other nonprofit organizations hence the reason I started my own nonprofit. I was always a jovial individual or the class clown as some teachers have written on my report card, lol. My goal is to bring joy to others no matter what.
As I’m thinking while answering this question, I vividly remember always giving back in some capacity. I credit this to my parents. I’ll be honest, I grow up pretty privileged in the sense that I had parents who worked very hard to give myself and my siblings a much better life than they did, so my parents especially my mother always made sure we gave back to others because we had more. At the time as a child, I always wondered why I was giving away my clothes, shoes or even food at times but my parents were setting an example. That’s why I truly believe I’m destined to be of service to others and I’m working to put myself in a position to give back to my community. I knew I wanted a career in the healthcare field ever since I was a little girl playing doctor with my siblings and cousins. It was a goal to become a doctor but it wasn’t until my sister gave birth when she was 20 weeks pregnant and experiencing how the NICU nurses were to us as a family, I made the decision to become a Nurse. Ironically, I think I was destined to be in the maternal health world.
Contact Info:
- Email: tanya@laborwithtanya.com
- Website: https://allaboutthescrublife.
com/ - Instagram: www.instagram.com/
laborwithtanyak - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
laborwithtanyak/ - Twitter: twitter.com/tanyakambrose
Image Credits:
Photo cred: Zea Wilthsire – Antigua Tamara Gilchrist – Atlanta
