Behind every great lactation consultant is an incredible administrative assistant. Our guest for this episode is Amanda Sherwin, the owner of The LC's Concierge, a virtual administrative business that provides services dedicated to meeting the needs of lactation professionals working in private practice. Amanda used skills acquired through her past careers as an elementary school teacher and camp director to help her build her business. She was drawn into the lactation world through her decision to breastfeed her two beautiful children – a choice that she made the moment she discovered that she was pregnant. “My experience with breastfeeding my two children is what brought me into this world, and the amazing women and support that I had crowd-surfed me through that journey.” In this episode, we will cover: -The work and values that a lactation administrative assistant does (05:16) -What the best parts of lactation administrative work are (10:54) -How to find the perfect administrative assistant for your lactation business – and exactly what to ask them (15:54) -Our best tips for working effectively with your administrative assistant (20:38) -The emotional rewards that all parties (including patients!) receive when your assistant is a great fit (24:18) If you like what you heard today, please check out our Lactation Business Coaching Deeper Dive Memberships: https://learn.anniefrisbie.com/lactationbusinesscoaching You can email us questions and comments at hello@lactationbusinesscoaching.com.
Behind every great lactation consultant is an incredible administrative assistant.
Our guest for this episode is Amanda Sherwin, the owner of The LC's Concierge, a virtual administrative business that provides services dedicated to meeting the needs of lactation professionals working in private practice.
Amanda used skills acquired through her past careers as an elementary school teacher and camp director to help her build her business. She was drawn into the lactation world through her decision to breastfeed her two beautiful children – a choice that she made the moment she discovered that she was pregnant.
She took prenatal and birthing classes and bought books, but still found breastfeeding her firstborn to be incredibly challenging. Amanda reached out to Beth Myler at Mahala, who diagnosed her baby with posterior tongue tie. Within a week of being treated, Amanda’s daughter gained 12 ounces.
When Beth decided to return to school for her nurse practitioner’s degree, she asked Amanda if she’d be interested in providing administrative support for her practice – and Amanda jumped at the opportunity. Today, she handles scheduling systems, communications, social media management, and website management.
“My experience with breastfeeding my two children is what brought me into this world, and the amazing women and support that I had crowd-surfed me through that journey.”
In this episode, we will cover:
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About Us
Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.
Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.
Many thanks to Stephanie Granade for her production assistance, and to Silas Wade for creating our theme music
Annie: I'm Annie.
Leah: And I'm Leah.
Annie: And this is Lactation Business Coaching with Annie and Leah, where we talk about the smart way to create compassionate and professional private practice.
Leah: Let's dive in. Hey there, Annie. How are you?
Annie: I'm great. Because today, one of my favorite people in lactation land is joining us on our podcast. We've got Amanda Sherwin. She is the owner of The LC's Concierge, LLC, a virtual administrative business that focuses on the specific needs of lactation consultants in private practice, specifically in the area of administrative work to help manage the day-to-day nuances of their business. Her mission with LC's Concierge is to provide the necessary support to lactation consultants and private practice, through offering virtual assistant services. Amanda was once an elementary teacher for a little over 10 years and a camp director for about the same amount of time. She has transferred many of the skills acquired in those positions to grow her business, and Amanda does virtual assistant work for me or virtual admin work for me and she's a lifesaver. If you have had to get customer support with anything you've bought from Paperless Lactation, you have talked to Amanda. My clients adore her because she does all my scheduling and I'm really excited to have her on the podcast today. So welcome Amanda.
Amanda: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Leah: This is so fun to have you here in the flesh, so to speak because I feel like everything I see you do for all of us and Annie, I feel like you might have like a halo around you and some magical powers streaming out of your hands because definitely must have been a really good elementary school teacher, because I think those skills of hoarding small children in around places is probably what helps you do the same for all of us lactation consultants in getting our work done. What drew you into transitioning from elementary and camp director to lactation land?
Amanda: Well, I hung out into camp director for a very long time, just until like two years ago, because I loved it so much, but what ended up happening with me is my experience with breastfeeding my two children is what brought me into this world, and the amazing women and support that I had that crowd-surfed me through that journey. So, when I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to breastfeed. I vaguely remembered my older sister breastfeeding my nieces, but I had never really seen anybody breastfeed. So, I took it upon myself to go ahead and read everything I could, take classes - prenatal classes, birthing classes. I bought Nancy Mohrbacher's book. I think it's called Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers. Yes, I devoured it. I took notes. I put post-its on pages.
Despite all that preparation and everything that I did in order to get ready for this experience and this journey, I had no idea what was ahead for me. I first was gaining a fraction of an ounce a week. I was feeding constantly, and I finally reached out and I found Beth Myler who was with Mahala Lactation at the time, and she diagnosed a posterior tongue tie and we drove all the way up to Albany to have it fixed. And within a day she had gained two ounces and within a week she had gained 12 ounces. Beth was an integral part of that whole thing.
And then flash forward, four years ago, she contacted me. She was going back for her nurse practitioner degree and she asked if I would help to keep her business afloat with scheduling and all of these things. And I had just turned in my resignation letter to stay home with my children that very week.
Leah: Wow.
Amanda: So, my higher power had something else in store.
Leah: Very serendipitous. It all came together right in time.
Amanda: So that's how this all came to be, and I've had amazing people along the way who have helped me. And it kind of came to me as opposed to me coming to it.
Leah: Isn't it always interesting in lactation land that that seems to be always the case? I assume there is like a very specific lactation universe person or God out there that's getting all of us together and pulling us all in. There are definitely some specific forces around the world of lactation because it's a story that I think Annie and I, every single person we've had on the podcast has had a story about how they were called in. Just really makes you appreciate the power of lactation
Amanda: Yeah, and the tapestry. It's pretty amazing.
Leah: Yes.
Annie: So, what kind of tasks do you do as a virtual assistant for lactation consultants? It's a bit disingenuous of me to ask, because I know what you do for me, but I don't know. Maybe you will tell me something that you do that I don't know that you do and I'll be like, Oh, and now you're doing that for me too.
Leah: Now your to-do list has grown.
Amanda: Really? I curated my answer. No, I'm just kidding. I wear many different hats and it's kind of like being a teacher in the classroom. I wear so many different hats; I wasn't just one thing so like I said, it originally started with me establishing and maintaining a scheduling system, triaging calls, triaging emails, responding to people, reach out corresponding with clients, corresponding with subcontractors, developing social media schedules and posts, website. A little bit of website design and updates, not the full plethora, but coordinating class schedules and locations. It's really the minutia that takes people away from what they love that I take over. It kind of grows and evolves with my clients because I'm able to get a handle on what they're doing and say, hey, maybe I can do this for you, or what do you think about that? And it's just kind of evolved and snowballed.
Annie: Yeah. That's definitely interesting, like taking over the minutiae, freeing up my brain, it's helped so much in a way that I don't think I realized it was. It's not just the time, but it was also just like the psychic weight of having to worry about I have to make sure I get people scheduled, and when I had to rearrange something, reschedule, I would get very tangled up in my own brain of Oh my gosh, this person is at two o'clock on Wednesday, but now they're asking if they can reschedule and I have to. It's a puzzle. I would get very wound up and not be able to think about anything else until everybody in that scheduling thing got back to me and it was fixed, and that would just eat up my day in a way that was so unpleasant.
And so now when somebody wants to reschedule, or if I need to reschedule, I'm just like Amanda, here's what I want and then it happens. And as soon as I tell Amanda, I just stop thinking about it because it'll get done, and it just really has helped free up my mind knowing that. For Amanda, the stakes are low for her. It's not going to keep her up at night making sure that my clients like the schedule, but it was keeping me up at night, cause it's like my schedule, my life and I don't want to deal with it. So that's been a real amazing thing for me just having somebody there who I can just offload and then I can stop thinking about it.
Amanda: I'm so happy you said that. I love hearing your perspective on that.
Leah: Well, I'm sure you hear it all the time because I know Annie talks about how beneficial it's been for her. And I wonder what do you hear other LCs coming back with and saying, especially if you're new to the world of virtual assistant, which I mean, man COVID has made that more reality for so many people, right? But what are you hearing? What's the feedback, the biggest benefit of having this virtual assistant is for a lot of people because people might not know what all these benefits could actually be?
Amanda: Yeah. I think quiet, and like Annie said, just the quieting of the mind, freeing up of time. I don't think that LCs realize just how those tiny fragments of time add up to something so big, and the mental load that comes with that. So, I really hear my clients saying thank you for when I give them their hours at the end of the month. Thank you for giving me this many hours back in my life. And I think that for me also, I know that I'm opening up space for the plans that they have for their businesses, because the mental load that comes with just responding and doing all these little tasks adds up, and they can see their own families more. I mean, let's face it. Most people have partners. Most people have children and we're pulled in so many different directions, and especially lactation consultants because it's a time-sensitive profession.
Leah: It really is.
Amanda: I think that's really the biggest benefit of having an administrative assistant.
Leah: That's so beautifully said. And then it's just so wonderful that this can be all done virtually. I just love that. It's so freeing to think about for most practices nowadays, you don't have to try to find somebody local to you, and that just opens up the whole world to you. You don't have to be in your same town to find an amazing person like Amanda, you know. You can go anywhere and still have her as an amazing assistant or someone like her, cause this virtual assistant world is growing and we're realizing how valuable it can be. Even if you can't be truly face-to-face, it can have such amazing value. That's so awesome.
Annie: So, what gives you the most satisfaction in the work that you do, because I used to be an assistant. One of my first jobs out of school was as an assistant to a film producer, and there were some jobs that I did for him that I was like, Hmm, I'll be happy when I don't have to do this again, or I just had no feelings about them. There were some jobs that I did for him that I just felt like oh, that's just so nice. Like he had me make this call sheet. He got hundreds of phone calls a day, and he also would have people he wanted to call, so the call sheet would have all the calls he had to return and then all the people he told me he wanted to remember to call. I would put notes on there and I took a lot of satisfaction and making sure that his call sheet was up to date and this is at the top cause this is important and that I took things off because I knew that he talked to them. I just always felt like very proud of that. Here's your call sheet in the morning. So, when you think about doing the work that you do, you know, I will also say it was also satisfying to feel like I was a small part of something bigger than myself. He was making movies and I was making a call sheet, but I was also helping him make movies. So, when you think about the work you do as a virtual admin, what gives you the most personal satisfaction about the work you do?
Amanda: Yeah, there's two parts to this question that I I'd like to address it. First of all, I think that the greatest satisfaction for me is being able to answer the phone or respond to a message or an email, and knowing that the other person on the end of the line, I was there at one point and I needed help. I was in the situation of just fear and worry because in the beginning all you get to do is breastfeed your baby or feed your baby and make sure they survive. So being a warm voice at the end of the line, hearing the crack in the voice when they're just about to cry and just being able to kind of scoop them up without giving advice. That's the thing that for me, it's just reassuring that help is on the way, reminding them of the resources that they currently have at their fingertips, their pediatrician and whatever they have currently, if they've seen another IBCLC and that help is on the way. So that's the first part that I'd like to address.
And the second is just with the consultants. Just like the consultants are working with families that have babies, these consultants are handing their "baby" over to me and they've fed it, they've nurtured. It, they've invested time. They have dreams and aspirations and plans, and for the most part have been doing that all by themselves, maybe with another partner or something like that. And to turn that over to me, I think often there's a little bit of fear in that of releasing that control and letting that go. But there's also a sense of comfort because I have a ton of experience. I've been doing this for many years. I have six years of breastfeeding under my belt and I've been there. I also have acquired a lot of business understanding about the consultant's business world. So being able to open up that space for their dreams that they talk to me about when we first meet and where they'd like to go, and knowing that by me taking over those little, tiny tasks that just get under their skin, that I'm opening up that space for them. I'm smiling thinking about my one client in Arlington and where we started and where she is now and where she's going, and it's just the most beautiful thing ever and it brings me such joy to be able to be a part of that, like you said, Annie.
Leah: That's so awesome and so inspirational. It's so neat. When I think about the work you do, like you're saying, it kind of makes me cringe, Oh, I do not like to do that. I do not, but I'm sure other people would think about the work we do as lactation consultants and think, how do you do that? But it's so amazing to me just thinking about all the jobs in the world that there are. There are jobs, there are people - humans - made specifically for this job because they're going to be the ones that can find such inspiration that you just shared. It almost brought tears to my eyes. I was like, Oh my God. It's so amazing what you're doing. And it's just so neat how we get paired with these jobs that just fill us up and bring us such joy. And isn't that what we're all out there looking for is to find the work that fills us like that. It's so neat that you've almost cultivated and were called into this such unique role, but it's really fit where you are in the world and your life and your experiences so beautifully. Just touches me so much.
So, I know that now so many of our listeners are going to be like, this is awesome. I need this in my life. How does this actually happen? And maybe they have got somebody in mind or want to interview a virtual assistant, what are some of the things that you think are really important for specifically lactation consultants because I think we're so unique? We're not like every run of the mill sales business. We're such a unique niche in a service industry world. What are some of the things that you think a virtual assistant in this space really needs to have? What would we be asking them? What would you recommend?
Amanda: I think that's a great question, and I use that word "niche" all the time when I talk about what I do, because it really is. There's specific skillsets and knowledge that need to come to the table. First and foremost, HIPAA. Do you understand what HIPAA is, and do you know how to comply? And I say that because before I started working with Annie and I was working for Beth and starting all of this, I was a complete novice. I was coming from the education world and had signed HIPAA documents at the doctor's office, but never really knew how that applied to what I was doing. I remember finding Annie's Facebook page and kind of going, Oh my gosh, the paperless practice. There's no place for me anymore; there's no place, but then I started reading and I went, Oh my gosh. I'd have to learn about HIPAA. I downloaded her book and I started reading and my husband will look at me occasionally and he would go, is it HIPAA? Because my face would go white and I would say, yes, it's HIPAA. I don't even know if I should be doing this anymore. But then I just took a deep breath and I centered myself. I was like, I'm supposed to learn about this, but really, it's really important. After reading that book, I got my own computer. I did the things that I needed to do to tighten up on my end and learn so much. And I think that's the first question to ask. Do you understand the nuances of this? Do you understand what needs to be done? And the other thing is what level of experience do you have with lactation? I think that that's a true benefit of someone who is an admin for a consultant because I can listen, but I can't diagnose and I would never say that on the phone. It's understanding those boundaries of where I begin and the consultant begins and the client begins and where I end and all of that.
Good writing, great writing skills, I think are very important for the responses. I think creating scenarios in how would you handle a situation like this if you received a phone call? Because I will tell you, when I first started this job, I was like needing Cesar Milan to come on in with the [sound effect;] every time. I would reach out to Beth and I'd go, the baby's not pooping. The baby's not pooping and freaking out because I had been there just two years prior and it was like, they need to call their pediatrician. I built up this ability and I remember one specific phone call where the envelope kept being pushed by the family. I just kept saying, So-and-So cannot see you until you've seen your pediatrician, and this is really important and I had turned this corner and I think that comes with time and with experience to know when that should happen.
I think talking about how you're going to maintain security with your administrative assistant. How are we going to communicate so that it's not over iPhone? What's appropriate on the iPhone; what's appropriate in a secure messaging system, and discussing those things. But I really think the virtual assistant should also be asking questions of the consultant about how did you become inspired? Where is your business now? Where would you like to go? How am I going to be of the greatest benefit to you? Those types of questions really help the assistant too to guide the discussion and build up some important background knowledge so that when you work together, it helps. I have to say, I've shadowed most of the IBCLCs with whom I work so that I can get a feel for their style and their way of doing things, so that I can accurately answer questions and be there for the families who have specific concerns and questions. All of that's been really helpful. And I think it's helpful for consultants to ask questions like that and build a rapport with the person with whom they're working, because you become their right-hand man/woman/ person, whatever you want to say.
Annie: That's so true. And I love all those questions cause it's really about the nuance like you said, that there's so much in the work that we do that can't quantified. The two people on this call probably know better than most people in the world how much I love systems. And I'm always like, okay, we're going to get the process. Here's the process. And then my brain kind of melts and then Amanda's left picking up the pieces of these processes that I think were a good idea, and I've realized it's better to be like, here's the end goal that I want. Get me there. And then whatever she comes up with is way better than whatever micromanaging I could do. But it took a long time to get there because like you said, my business is my baby. My business is my money, and it's how I support my family, and so it's really important. When I think about my goals, like my long-term vision for everything that I'm doing, it's really hard to sometimes communicate that to somebody else or just takes time for them. It has taken time for Amanda to get to know how I work and for me to be able to trust her to say, okay, here's where I'm actually trying to get to.
I was recently reading in the New Yorker - we're recording this in December - there was an article about virtual assistants, the rise of global virtual assistants as an industry. So, it's a big deal. And one particular company where their whole business model is you tell them all the things you want to do, they'll get it done, but they're going to piecemeal everything out to a different person overseas, outside of the US. I'm in the US and the benefit that they are offering is that we are hiring people outside the US in countries where there's a lower cost of living so it costs you less. You don't have to pay them US wages to do the work, and you're going to get it done. And then that way too, if one person leaves, we'll just find somebody else to do that job. We're going to break everything up. And from a bottom-line perspective, save money? Piecemeal? But I don't want to either save money or break up my things into little pieces because the work that I do. Ultimately, everything I do is about improving health outcomes for families, and that requires people, that requires relationships, that requires investment of time and money. Just like when my kids were younger and I was getting childcare for them, I was never looking for the least expensive option. I was looking for the best person to take the best care of my kids. And so that's how I feel about hiring. You're thinking about hiring a virtual assistant? Consider going with a person over a system because that person, the right person, when you ask them the right questions and you build that rapport and relationship, they're going to take care of you. and you really can be then free to focus on the bigger picture, stuff that inspires you and excites you.
Amanda: I couldn't agree more. I really couldn't, and especially with lactation consulting, to outsource those pieces, it makes me kind of cringe to even think about that because I know those pieces and I know how sensitive they are, and I couldn't even imagine how that would even work. So, yes, I totally agree. And I love building the relationships with the people with whom I work, because it's so important. It's a beautiful thing. I've built friendships out of position. It's really great.
Annie: And I always find it so fun when my clients are talking to me, either during a consult or they'll email me directly and they'll talk about Amanda. They'll say so, should I just ask Amanda when I should have a follow-up or can you book it for me? I'm like, Oh, they know Amanda too. It's just fun. It's feels warm.
Amanda: Oh, I'm so happy. I mean, I've received response emails with pictures of newborn babies and just saying, thank you for helping me, and coming from the educational field, that was why I got into education is to help. You know, it's a service field, very similar to what you do, and when I receive those emails, it just warms my heart and reminds me of what I'm doing, and the importance of it and the purpose behind it.
Leah: It's definitely a sign that you've found a good fit if you get those feedback about the assistant, because I also have an Amanda. It's so funny, my virtual assistant is named Amanda, but it's not the same Amanda. I actually had a visit not long after she started. She was way in over her head, but she was doing her best to swim her way out and figure it all out. And it was so sweet because the family stopped me as I was just about to walk out of the door and said, I just wanted to let you know how nice your assistant is. She just made me feel so comforted. I just want you to know how much I appreciate that. And I was like, it just goes to show that first touch point that people have with your business is critical mass. it really establishes how the whole thing is going to go down. And when you can find - I guess everybody's got to be named Amanda - when you can find your Amanda, it really just brings so much more to your business. It's just really been so eye opening to see the benefit of having a really good assistant. Not just from the perspective of you get your time back and everything, but how it actually shifts your business because that first contact point is such a powerful piece to how the families experience your services and everything.
So, finding these amazing assistants is doable. They're out there. They want to help. And I think it's so great when we can make these connections and start working together, and we really appreciate you for sharing today with us all this information so that we can help more people get connected with amazing assistants like you.
Annie: And if you want to learn more about growing your practice and hiring an administrative person or a biller, or even bringing subcontractors into your practice, you can register for the Lactation Private Practice Essential course. If you're listening to this podcast episode the day it comes out, you, there is still time to get early bird pricing, which closes on January 31st, 2021. In the section on growing your practice, which is track 4, Leah and I have a long, very long actually ended up being like two hours all about growing your practice and all the different implications. And so, if you want to go even deeper into that, check it out at learn.anniefrisbie.com/grow. You can read more about the growing your private practice tracks. Amanda, thank you so much for being on the episode today. I'm sure I'm going to talk to you later today with all the things that we're wrapping up for the end of the year, and as always, thank you so much for listening.
Leah: Want to continue the conversation? Join our community and connect with other private practice lactation consultants, just like you. We offer support and exclusive member-only content designed to help you create a compassionate and professional private practice. We're all in this together at patreon.com/lactationbusinesscoaching. And if you enjoyed today's episode, leave us a review and share it with a friend. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.