Inspiring Conversations with Shayla Rhem, Leatrice Priest and Iris Jones

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shayla Rhem, Leatrice Priest and Iris Jones.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We all were Certified Birth Doulas and decided that we wanted to both support our community and create a business model that also supports Doulas. This work is very rewarding but can also be mentally strenuous when you are running solo. We saw a need to be a force together so that we could create a bond of strength that crosses over into how we are able to serve our clients.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest struggle that I believe we (and many other Doulas) face is expressing the importance of a strong birth support team that includes both your family/friends and a Birthworker. When someone decides that they want that type of support in their birth environment and it allows for their family to support them in other ways. We are never in a position to replace anyone but rather to help educate and show ways to establish a voice and advocacy.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are most proud and excited at the variety of services that we can offer to our community! As Doulas, we are a part of your birth team. We provide non-medical support and guidance as it relates to your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum periods. We are all Certified as Birth & Postpartum Doulas, Breastfeeding Peer Counselors, as well as Childbirth Educators. In addition, we look to set ourselves apart by also offering Shayla’s expertise as a Full Spectrum Doula. A Full Spectrum Doula is a non-medically trained community care worker who offers support to people during the full spectrum of pregnancy – from preconception to birth, to abortion, to miscarriage, to adoption, to postpartum. Iris is an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) and one of the first graduates of the Human Lactation Pathway 2 program at North Carolina A&T State University. This provides a clinical background to breastfeeding and expands the support that we are able to provide our families. Leatrice is a certified Life Coach and supports families to establish and accomplish goals on their parenting journey. In her role as a Mother, she has also learned the importance of advocacy as she navigates parenting a child with a different ability. Each of these components provides a structure for us to meet more people where they are in their experience as parents and to provide more specific knowledge to our community.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Find your support and/or mentors! People who have done what you are setting out to do can provide you with invaluable advice that can save you both time and money. It’s vitally as important to realize early on that you don’t know everything and you don’t know what you don’t know. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason, so listen twice as much as you talk. Then when you feel confident in what you know, share it with someone else who could benefit from it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.easedoulas.com
• Instagram: @easedoulacollab
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/easedoulas 

Image Credits
Still Shots Photography – Ashleigh Crawley