Women Who Went for It! Podcast

  In this episode, Sara talks with Rebecca Blankinship about how she pivoted from global travel and cross-cultural awareness to parenting and childbirth support—and did it as a single mom. Rebecca shares how she recognized her passions, how parenting traditions in other cultures inform the work she does today and she gives some easy self-care tips for new parents. Offering a continuum of care from preconception to parenting, Rebecca Blankinship has been described as a life doula, holding space and helping her clients tap into their innate wisdom and strength from preparing to become a parent, all the way through parenting.   Sara and Rebecca discuss:

• Rebecca's career path
• Hosting exchange students in high school
• Visiting Turkey
• Studying Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
• Working with J-1 Trainee Visa Sponsorships
• Working as an international flight attendant
• Starting to formulate a vision for her own, cross-cultural awareness business
• Using her 30th birthday as a significant milestone
• Leading her first trip to Tanzania
• Falling in love with her business partner
• Getting pregnant
• Ending the relationship with her daughter's father
• Moving in with her mom
• Starting to see her deep passion for parenting and childbirth
• Becoming a doula
• Realizing that the first mom she supported suffered from severe postpartum depression
• Noticing that she wanted to provide a continuum of care
• Getting more support and training
• How her experience in cross-cultural understanding informs the work she does now with parents
• The freedom we have in the U.S. of incorporating aspects of other cultures into our own
• Coaching people to create their own traditions
• Rebecca's support systems
• How she distinguishes between her passions and her interests
• Noticing when she's in her "flow"
• Noticing when she's blocked from moving forward
• Rebecca's passion for communication and healthy, integrated systems of care
• Moments of self-doubt
• A powerful piece of advice she received
• The importance of mentors
• What it means to be "on track"
• Rebecca's resource recommendations:
  • Her sister, Heather Fantin's, inner circle group coaching program, Soul on Fire
  • Joyful Courage podcast from Casey O'Roarty
  • The Four Agreements (book) by Don Miguel Ruiz
  • The Million Person Project (storytelling coaches)
• Her upcoming workshops at the International Childbirth Education Association Conference in April
• Simple self-care techniques for new parents
• Mindfulness tips
• One piece of advice for new moms who also have a career ambition
• The importance of getting rid of the "shoulds" and just being

  Connect with Rebecca:

• Website: www.rebeccablankinship.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elevateparenting

  Rebecca's full bio: Offering a continuum of care from preconception to parenting, Rebecca Blankinship has been described as a life doula, holding space and helping her clients tap into their innate wisdom and strength from preparing to become a parent, all the way through parenting. Rebecca is an internationally certified Childbirth Educator, a birth doula, a certified postpartum doula, an infant massage instructor, positive discipline parent education, and The Gottman Institute's 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work Leader and Bringing Baby Home Educator. Through her business, Mama Nunu, Rebecca combines all of these areas into one-on-one coaching for parents to not just survive this time period, but look back at it as the best time of their lives.