Today we’d like to introduce you to Jada Shapiro.
Hi Jada, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a longtime maternal health expert, birth doula, childbirth educator, postpartum doula, lactation counselor, mom, and step-mom. I graduated from Wesleyan University with a double major in American Studies and Dance and focused my senior thesis on the medicalization of childbirth in America, after discovering a fascinating book about childbirth in the library. I witnessed my first birth a few years later when my dear friend invited her (and 19 other people!) to photograph her birth at a freestanding birth center. Expectant and new parents have been my passion for over 20 years since I built my first company in 2002, Birth Day Presence, and grew that into NYC’s top childbirth education and birth worker training center, serving over 20k parents before launching boober a few years ago after hearing from so many of my customers how hard it was to find lactation support. Boober was born out of market demand by desperate new parents who couldn’t find breastfeeding help fast enough. I was running my first company, Birth Day Presence, at the time, and was tired of seeing my students give up nursing or feeding their babies in pain, unable to get the lactation help they needed. I started giving out my personal cell phone number on a postcard, offering parents the opportunity to text for help in finding same-day care. I soon found myself coordinating visits with lactation professionals or running out of the house myself to help people with the simple basics of feeding their babies. I saw the improvement in front of my eyes; by the time I’d leave they had less pain, babies were feeding better, and parents were expressing their utmost gratitude and relief. With the texts overflowing, I knew it was time to create a platform that would quickly and easily connect new parents to qualified Lactation Professionals and the other in-person & virtual services and classes they needed to thrive.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been like any road, smooth parts, bumpy parts, with some unexpected twists and turns! The pandemic required us to reinvent ourselves overnight to support families better, we quickly began offering mental health services and virtual classes and services. We had to survive the ups and downs of lockdown and find new safe ways to mitigate risks and provide care for expanding families. The softening in the economy made investors more conservative at a time we needed financing to survive this unprecedented crisis. Yet, people rallied behind us, supported us and we are stronger today. A startup is not for the faint of heart. The silver lining is that we are now national and serving more people than ever. I make a conscious effort to think about solutions; learning and optimizing are at the core of a successful business and I learned so much along the way, that I would not trade any of it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our healthcare system is broken, especially for pregnant and new parents. Just when parents need the most help, the system drops them. The old way to find help was that parents had to research, vet, interview, book, and pay each time they wanted to hire a new care provider. They’re already overwhelmed and this process was exhausting. They would message their parent-Facebook groups, call their friends, search google and leave messages with multiple providers; over and over again, each time they needed help; there was no simple way to find and book all of their care and education in one place. Boober takes the challenge out of finding the support growing families need to succeed in their unique parenting journey and has helped thousands of families since 2017. Boober is a marketplace that quickly connects expectant and new parents to high-quality classes and on-demand, expert care providers like lactation consultants, doulas, mental health therapists, and more so parents can thrive in their pregnancy to postpartum journey. It is a trusted one-stop shop from pregnancy to postpartum that parents and doctors love. Boober is the only marketplace of its kind led and founded by a maternal care expert. I have 2 decades of years experience as a care provider (from doula to lactation counselor to birth educator), media expert, and business owner, with deep relationships in the pregnancy/postpartum space. Boober’s mission is to empower expectant and new parents to transform their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences and outcomes through expert education and easy access to qualified maternal healthcare providers. We are building a better future for all expectant and new parents and building the tools that providers need to grow thriving businesses.
Currently, our virtual services and online classes are offered nationally and in-person services in NY/Tri-State Area, but we are expanding every day. The best part of boober is knowing we make an impact and seeing the incredible response from our customers after they have gotten the help they needed. We do things better for families, but as a marketplace, we also make it easier for providers to focus on what they love: providing care for parents. We help doulas, lactation consultants, and others easily build their businesses, and get clients. This is what gets me up and going everyday.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Oh, I have quite a few but I will try to keep it short and focus on the essential ones. First, surround yourself with talented people that will challenge you and keep you motivated. A project is stronger when you have a strong team around you and you cannot do it alone! Second, you cannot shy away from being a leader. This is your vision and people need you to show the way forth. It might be hard to step into that role at first but it is essential for your company or project to get on the right track.
Finally, keep working on realizing your dream. It will be hard and all-encompassing and many times where you wonder if you should give up (just like what happens to most people in childbirth), so remember that feelings of wanting to give up are common when working on anything huge in life. It is essential to keep your cup filled, while doing this hard work, like talking to a therapist, getting bodywork, and finding those little moments in life which bring you joy outside of work.
Contact Info:
- Email: support@getboober.com
- Website: www.getboober.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getboober/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getboober/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/getboober?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVMlvfHd45zjcSxY4BrUcMQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/boober-brooklyn-4
Image Credits
Tom Pool
Jada Shapiro
