Small Business Sunday With Empowering Moms Canada

by in Breastfeeding, Business, Calgary, Edmonton, entrepreneurship, Fraser Valley, Having a Baby in Vancouver, Health and Wellness, Kid, Local, Modern Mama, Mom, National, Newborn, North Shore, North Vancouver, Parenting, Pregnancy, Resources, School of Mom, Sherwood Park, Small Business Sunday, Spruce Grove / Stony Plain, Vancouver, Women Comments Off on Small Business Sunday With Empowering Moms Canada
Carly Bonderud Founder Empowering Moms Canada

This is a very challenging time for so many people and so many small businesses. We love supporting local and wanted to do our part in showcasing some fantastic small businesses.

.

Empowering Moms Canada - Carly Bonderud.

This week we are speaking with Carly Bonderud, Founder of Empowering Moms Canada.  She is based out of Abbotsford, BC but travels throughout the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley for in-person services. She also has the ability to offer online services to anyone across Canada.

Carly educates and coaches women on their rights to informed consent, finding a care team that will support their birth choices, and how to advocate for themselves in pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and beyond.

You can find Empowering Moms Canada on Facebook and on their website.

.

What made you choose this type of business?

I have always been passionate about women’s rights, but it wasn’t until the birth of my own child that I learned how under-prepared a lot of mothers were in navigating the maternity care system and achieving the birth experience they desired. I started with advocacy on a volunteer basis because I felt I had to do something, but it became a passion of mine the more I met with doulas, midwives, and other birth professionals and the more I spoke to mothers in my community who reached out to me. I saw a need that wasn’t being met, and it just sort of turned into a business after 6 years.
.

What is your favourite small business (aside from your own)?

I have several friends in doula work that I would classify as small business so it would be difficult to pick just one. Holly Klaassen also runs a Facebook group and coaching business for parents of spirited kids that I have found to be a life-saver in caring for my own kids. I love the digital content and one-to-one coaching businesses because it’s so close to what I want to grow my own business into, but if I had to pick something outside birth work then Holly’s coaching business would be the one that  stood out for me. She’s also in Abbotsford, so that was a nice surprise after following her for 6 years on Facebook and not realizing that we were in the same city all this time.

.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Self-doubt is your own worst enemy! I am actually quite shocked that it took me this long to turn what I do into a business. I guess I didn’t believe I could do it, or that I wasn’t making any impact. I have connected more with other women in business who have also been surprised by my reluctance to just go for it. The thing is, I thought that I would fail if I tried to go for what I wanted, but you can’t fail if you don’t even try. And you can always tweak your system if something isn’t working, because the best teacher is time. Also, there are a lot of free courses or introductory classes that pop up in email lists from coaches on anything from writing a book, building a business, and even creating digital courses. I wish I had signed up for these sooner.

.

If applicable, has your business been negatively affected by COVID19? If so how have you coped?

Actually, I would say that COVID19 is a good thing for anyone with a business that is digital, or at least mostly online. Before I created Empowering Moms I was working on a volunteer basis under an advocacy group called Improving Birth. I was a rally coordinator for Abbotsford but helped women from all over Canada for free. Since I am used to working online it wasn’t really a change for me. I’ve also taken the break as my time to really sit down and figure out where to go from here. 

.

Carly Bonderud Empowering Woman Canada

.

What are your long term business goals?

I’m writing a book, actually. I’m still in the very rough stages of writing it, but I noticed that a lot of coaches and educators also use their books as the “store front” to invite their readers to connect with them online. I already have a small following, but I have just really taken note of how other writers and coaches I admire have gotten their name out there and I’ve always dreamed of writing a book since I was a child. I’m also in the middle of a 30-day boot camp on digital course creation that I found through one of the email lists I joined. I know that moms are busy, even if they’re planning their first baby, and I want to offer a condensed version of my individual coaching services that people can access on their own time. I also want to collaborate with as many birth workers who share the same values and vision for mothers and I have made many connections already in that sense. I would just like to keep building on that.

.

What are you most looking forward to with the launch of your new business?

Getting paid for my time after years of doing it for free would be nice, of course, but one thing that I am just really excited about is being able to connect with more moms and offer more services long-term.

.

What is your funniest/weirdest/most memorable experience with a customer or client?

I think the most memorable and rewarding thing for me was having given a mom in Alberta some information on having a Vaginal Birth after 2 cesareans (VBA2C). I hadn’t intended to attract her at all, but I often visit the parenting Facebook groups and drop little free bits of information for moms who might want it, plus a link to a reputable website with evidence based information, or a group that I know has a lot of healthcare professionals who specialize in certain areas of care that the original poster is looking for. In this case, another mom with a similar question on VBAC read my comment and messaged me privately asking for more information. I was still under Improving Birth at the time, so I gave away a lot of good tips and resources for free since I legally couldn’t charge her, and then she thanked me and I didn’t hear from her for quite a while. That’s often typical for me, and I didn’t expect her to contact me again unless she needed more information, but several months later she messaged me out of the blue and told me that she did it! She got the birth she wanted, that she wouldn’t have known was possible without my help getting her to find the right resources. I still have those messages. She also recently wrote a testimonial/review on my page.
I can’t wait to have tons of those rave reviews from moms I’ve helped, because I love that feeling like I gave them their power back!   
.

Empowering Moms Canada

.

Thank you to Carly Bonderud for participating in this week’s Small Business Sunday.

.

If you are a business owner interested in participating please email tina@modernmama.com

You May Also Like