Motherhood. There is no tougher or more rewarding job in the world than being a mother. I’ve been a witness and an educator to over 700 women while entering this major life chapter. I’ve seen and know that it’s difficult, emotional, overwhelming, exhausting, amazing, wonderful, FULL of love, and the best job ever (most of the time). And I love and am fascinated by every part of it.
You’re probably wondering how I got started in all of this; helping women, mothers, and babies. Well, here’s my story on how I became “The Baby Chick.”
After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, like most new graduates, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I did know that I needed a job . . . and fast! I got my first “big girl” job in Houston, Texas, working in corporate America. After a few months of working at this job, it was pretty clear to me that I wasn’t feeling fulfilled in my career path. At the ripe age of 22, I’m supposed to know what I want to do with my life, right? Wrong . . . I needed some direction, so instead of just talking to my parents, I spoke with a life coach, and she recommended that I read the book The Passion Test by Janet Bray Atwood and Chris Atwood. I know, I know . . . super corny. I thought the same thing when she recommended it. But at that point, I was feeling frustrated, unsatisfied, and lost. I decided to read the book because what could it hurt? And I am so glad I did because I know that it helped guide me to where I am today.
While reading the book, it kept showing me that my biggest passion of all is helping others. This wasn’t a big shocker since I’ve always enjoyed helping and taking care of people. I just wasn’t sure how exactly I wanted to serve others.
As I read on, I kept thinking about my then colleague, who was pregnant with her first baby. I always loved hearing about all the things that she was planning, how she was decorating the nursery, what she was registering for, and how she was getting ready for her shower, etc. I was fascinated by it ALL and thought to myself that maybe I should look into working with pregnant women. It clicked! AND it made sense. I love babies and helping people–women in particular–so this sounded like the right path for me.
A month later, after thinking and praying about it, I took a gutsy move and quit my job to start working at a boutique catering to mothers. I wanted to see if this was the path that I should go on.
While working there, I noticed that the customers who were first-time mothers mostly had NO idea what they needed, wanted, or what they are doing. I thought to myself, “There needs to be a place or a number that women can call to chat with someone about the options that are available to them. That way, they can learn what products are truly necessary and unnecessary, what will work best for their lifestyle and their budget, etc.” I decided that I needed to educate myself on everything mom and baby so I could help these women during this exciting yet overwhelming time. This is when my journey really began towards helping mothers and families.
I first started working towards my baby planning certification so that I could properly assist an expectant family planning for the arrival of their baby. Once I became a certified baby planner, I started my first company, Bassett Baby Planning (BBP). I helped several families with creating their baby registries, planning their baby showers, styling and organizing and stocking their nurseries, etc. Unfortunately, not many people knew (and still don’t know) about baby planning, so I knew that I needed to do something else to get a bit more business.
While working towards my baby planning certification, I had heard about doula care and was very interested to learn more about it. I contacted a local doula to see if I could shadow her and learn what it was all about. When I went to my first birth with her and watched all the things that she did for her client, it changed my life. I thought it was amazing! The whole thing. Seeing how this woman went through each contraction with the support of her husband and her doula, how she pushed and gave birth to her beautiful and healthy baby girl. It brought me to tears. I will never forget it. I knew at that moment that this was something that I had to do. I had to be a doula.
From that day forward, I started working towards my birth doula and postpartum doula certifications through DONA International and did an internship. This way, I could have hands-on experience and learn how to best support families at their births and beyond. It took me about two years to complete all of my requirements and receive my certifications from DONA, but it was well worth it. Now I have assisted at over 300 births and have helped over 700 families!
With each family I worked with, I wanted to know everything I possibly could so that I could best support them and each of their needs. I continued my education and got my license in massage therapy and became certified in prenatal massage, labor massage, labor induction massage, postnatal massage, and infant massage. After that, I got my certification as an Infant Massage Instructor, a Prenatal Fitness Educator, a Hypnobabies Certified Hypno-Doula, and many more. Being able to teach families new things and let them know all of the options that are available to them during each stage of motherhood was and still is extremely important to me. I don’t claim to know it all, but I do make sure to continue my education so that I can help families the best I can.
Everyone always tells you that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life, and I feel so fortunate to be able to say that I LOVE what I do. I listened to my passions, I put my all in every step of the way, and I know that I am doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. I couldn’t imagine supporting a more deserving group of people — mothers. You give so much to your family, and I want to give back and focus on the heart of the home, YOU!
