Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Rutan and Heather Clements.
Hi Kelly and Heather, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Kelly – After a brief – and entirely unfulfilling – stint as a lawyer, I became a postpartum doula in 2015. My own postpartum experiences with my two children spurred me in this direction, as I wanted other new parents to have the kind of support and encouragement and care that I did not. I spent several years building a solo doula practice and during that time I met Heather, a birth doula working in the Triangle. We hit it off and bonded over our shared commitment to true, nonjudgmental support and our desire to really see more professional doulas in our community. In late 2016, Heather had the crazy idea to form a doula agency and I was all in! Doulas of Raleigh officially launched in February 2017 and we have been striving ever since to grow that little agency into the full model of support for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum that exists today.
Heather – I was an elementary school teacher for 17 years but knew I wanted to get out of the classroom. I had just started hearing about doulas around my 15th year of teaching. It was also around this time that I took a spiritual gifts test at my church and saw I scored highest in Service, Empathy, and Encouragement, and immediately knew that me learning about doulas around that same time was not a coincidence! A friend of mine graciously offered to let me attend her birth and I loved every second. I knew that becoming a doula was my calling. I completed a labor/birth doula training and became certified as a doula. After a couple of years of teaching and acting as a doula during summers and holidays, I finally found the courage – along with the support of my husband – to leave the classroom and become a full-time doula. I have never regretted that decision and I love supporting all kinds of people in all kinds of labors and births. This work is truly an honor.
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?
Kelly – Is founding and growing your own business ever smooth? Ha! We have certainly encountered struggles but the fact that we are both doing something we are truly passionate about always makes the struggle worth it. When we started Doulas of Raleigh, we had a team of about 5 doulas, including Heather and myself. Today that team hovers around 35-40! Learning how to grow our systems to match a growing business has probably been one of the biggest challenges. We’ve never wanted to stay stagnant because we always want to be able to support as many families as we possibly can. So we have to keep growing (and tackling the growing pains!). And of course, making sure that as the agency grows our personal commitment to the highest quality of care for every family we support stays true is always at the forefront of everything we do.
Heather– I think it has been far smoother than I ever anticipated but a lot of that comes down to having a wonderful business partner who shares your same vision! I echo what Kelly says about the current challenge of continued growth without sacrificing quality of care.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Kelly and Heather: Doulas of Raleigh is a full service doula agency serving the Triangle area. If you don’t know what a doula is, the easiest way to describe it is someone that reduces fear and anxiety – during pregnancy, birth, and early postpartum – and builds strength and confidence in its place. Becoming a new parent is such a transformative experience and having a person that is 100% focused on your goals, needs, and wishes for your pregnancy, your birth experience, and your postpartum recovery is so important. That’s your doula!
Our agency provides both labor doulas and postpartum doulas, as well as offers new parent education courses, placenta encapsulation, and infant feeding services. Our driving force is to support families as they embark on their parenting journey with dedicated, professional, nonjudgmental support. For us, nothing is more important than making sure that each and every family that hires us receives the highest level of quality, compassionate care. That’s why we’ve built a team of the best doulas around.
Whether someone is looking for childbirth education or new parent classes to gain a little more knowledge, a dedicated labor doula to help them achieve their birth goals, or a postpartum doula that can be there day or night to answer questions, help them get more sleep, and take care of their physical and emotional recovery, Doulas of Raleigh has what they need.
Since founding Doulas of Raleigh in 2017, we have supported hundreds and hundreds of families across the Triangle. It is truly something special to be invited into each new parent’s journey and an honor to support them through such a sacred time in their life. We are so incredibly proud of the impact we have made in our community.
Any big plans?
Kelly and Heather: When we look into the future, we always see Doulas of Raleigh there. It’s a comfort to believe that for years and years down the road, new families in the Triangle area will have a trusted, professional doula agency to support and care for them. Over the past 8 years, we have grown our little agency from a team of 5 to a team of almost 40. We don’t think that growth will stop anytime soon and we are excited to see Doulas of Raleigh continue to thrive – just like the families that hire us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.doulasofraleigh.com
- Instagram: @doulasofraleigh
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/doulasofraleigh
