Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Rebecca Coluntino, founder of Capstone Doula Services, located in Melrose, MA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I’m an occupational therapist, birth doula, postpartum doula, and childbirth educator. I help parents get the education and resources they need throughout pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. I help prepare people for their transition into parenthood, teach them strategies on coping with labor, and how to work as a team approach between all people involved: the medical team, if there’s a spouse involved, and the doula.
I love this job because we take the fear out of the picture, and parents are left feeling confident and prepared for anything that comes from this experience (medicated, unmediated, vaginal or cesarean, etc.). We keep people moving in the best ways to help encourage babies to navigate down easier and quicker and are experts in comfort measures and movements whether in or out of bed. There’s so much to learn, but we keep information easy to understand and do lots of hands-on practice with people, so they know what to do and what to expect.
Tell us about yourself
I’ve been in healthcare for 13 years, first as an occupational therapist helping people through pain and other health conditions in hospitals and rehabs in Boston and surrounding areas.
When I had children, I hired a doula because I heard it could really decrease your chances of unnecessary interventions and avoid Cesarean birth, so avoiding surveys was my main goal. After laboring for days, I ended up having a cesarean because my baby's heart rate dropped drastically and did not return to normal. But I came out of this not disappointed or wondering what we could’ve done differently because I had my birth doula there with me, helping us through everything, supporting my husband and me.
She helped keep me moving around as much as I could, helped us understand the benefits and risks of each option presented, and reminded us of our preferences but reassured us when our plans had to change, so we always felt we were part of the decision making. We felt we were making informed decisions and had such a positive experience because of this education and support.
I was even more surprised at how helpful doulas were in the postpartum. When I had difficulty recovering from my surgery, difficulties with breastfeeding and with scar pain, etc. Doulas helped me find IBCLCs, the proper resources to fix my son's tongue tie and get pelvic floor therapy and physical therapy for getting back to work with a painful abdominal separation in navigating finding help quickly versus waiting for appointments that were ‘booked’ out for months. Having doulas was something I never thought I would use or invest in because I didn’t fully understand how helpful it would be until I experienced that myself.
Doulas are someone with an unbiased and evidence-based approach that is not family or friends. I was left thinking, why doesn’t every person have a doula? I wanted to give this back to other people in my community. I worked at Spaulding rehab hospital in Boston, and Melrose Wakefield Hospital is my latest OT job. I was lucky enough to have many young mothers who I worked with and could talk through some of these issues with and get lots of advice and support. But I realized many of my friends did not have a great set of coworkers like I did, and they were feeling isolated, especially during the pandemic the last couple of years. People need support more than ever, and something that has grown very popular this year for my business is even doing overnight doula services.
So I took a couple of different training, DONA and then ProDoula, which helped me with how to do a successful business. After that, I sought help from mentors and did lots of continuing education classes. Over the last few years, I started volunteering to help people for free at a Boston hospital to gain more experience in this field.
I continued to network with business owners in different professions to see how they started their small businesses. I networked with many doulas in Massachusetts and learned so much from them. I eventually turned this new passion of mine into my full-time business, quitting my OT hospital job (which I also loved) at the start of the pandemic.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Loving what I do and always going after my goals. I also learned that being an occupational therapist was such a valuable background to have as a doula. Therapists make the perfect fit to become a Doula because, for years, I’ve already been practicing helping people cope with all sorts of discomforts, anxieties, and pain, doing physical hands-on techniques, joint mobility and counter pressures, myofascial release techniques, massage, relaxation and breathing techniques, Reiki, visualization, meditation and more.
I even offer OT consultations in people's homes to help them learn how to be more comfortable and independent toward the end of their pregnancy, cope with an injury or swelling impacting their daily functioning, or prepare themselves for an upcoming C-section. So this work has been so rewarding for me, and I love what I do and sharing my knowledge with others.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Doing all the networking and training takes a lot of hours and time away from home. So that was tough at times, feeling guilty for pursuing your dreams but also keeping a good balance between work and family life. But luckily, My husband was really supportive of my changing careers, and I’ve had an amazing group of friends and family to help me with childcare. It takes a lot of time commitment at the beginning of starting your own business but with the right support around you, even if that means you have to hire support too, to meet your goals, it’s worth it, in the end, to pursue what makes you happy.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Learning from other mentors and people in the field, constantly keep networking with other businesses in your community and reach out to people virtually who are not in your immediate community. Also, taking continuing education (Not just as you enter owning a business or under a new field). I always believe in lifetime learning. You always learn something new from every single person you meet!
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Please find me on social media, give us a like on our pages, and check out our site! Anyone interested in these services or wants to learn more, I’m happy to do a 15-minute consult or network over zoom!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://capstonedoulaservices.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/capstonedoulaservices
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capstonedoulaservices/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/capstonedoulaservices/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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