From Clinic to Online Pregnancy Program

So in this episode, I give an honest account about the ups and downs of starting a business. I discuss my own struggles during my second pregnancy, and how these struggles really ignited a passion in me to find a better way to support women during pregnancy and after birth recovery to help them avoid or navigate some of the common problems often faced during this time. So if you’re interested in hearing a bit of a behind the scenes recount of life as a mum of three kids, and business life, then this fun episode is for you.

But before I do jump into this episode, I just want to let you know that there is a free 5 Days, 5 Ways to Prepare for Labour Challenge. And this challenge is about to run again at the start of June. So get your names down on the waitlist so you don’t miss out. This fun, free five days will run you through different ways to prepare for labour. And in these five days you’ll learn about perineal preparation like perineal massage, active birth techniques, after birth recovery tips, and you will leave the five days feeling empowered and more confident about your upcoming birth. To enter this free challenge head to www.fitnestmama.com/challenge and the link is in the show notes. Alright, let’s get into this episode.

EMILY OSMOND

Kath, thank you so much for joining me today.

KATH BAQUIE

Thanks, Em. It’s so great to be here.

EMILY OSMOND

We’ve just come off the elevate retreats I was just asking you how you going? Are you exhausted? How are you feeling? Do you feel like I’ve tried to get back some of that relaxed state of mind?

KATH BAQUIE

Absolutely having three kids running around and you know, a few sick yesterday. I kept channelling my weekend bliss was amazing.

EMILY OSMOND

Well, today, I’m excited to chat with you around how you’ve evolved your business, and how you’ve created your own online program and what that’s looked like for you different decisions, you’ve made challenges you’ve had along the way and some of the great benefits and outcomes of it for not only you and your business, but also the women that you work with. So perhaps we’ll start with Have you always wanted to have an online program? Where did the idea come from?

KATH BAQUIE

I’ve always seen women face to face. And I guess over the last eight years, I’ve been having babies and being pregnant. And that’s been a bit Stop, stop, stop stop along the way. And I got to a point where I didn’t have many hours in the day or the week that I wanted to be working. And I felt like I was getting a longer waitlist. It got to the stage where I felt that I could only help eight women in the day. And if one of my kids was sick, I had to cancel it. So it was getting a bit very stopped start. So that sort of got me thinking how else can I be helping women and the other point is that I started to notice a recurring theme. So I see mostly pregnant women and women who’ve had babies. And it was just amazing how often I felt I was repeating myself in terms of helping them get on top of their issues or their concerns or their problems, that sort of thing.

So I started to realize how if we’re a bit more proactive in terms of helping women during their pregnancy and after birth recovery, then I really believe being proactive would help women thrive more during pregnancy and really thrive with that after birth recovery rather than them, I guess waiting and then seeing me like at eight months postnatal, or 10 months postnatal, when they might have issues with leaking or prolapse or aches and pains that weren’t going away. So I felt that women would come and see me in the clinic when they had issues. And I really started to feel a drive that I wanted to help women before they had issues and just help stop those issues occurring. So I guess that’s why that thought process started, I thought, how can I help women do this and that was when that idea of the online workouts, but not just online workouts for pregnant women, but also resources and the support account that could really help them have an amazing pregnancy and after birth recovery. And that’s when you stepped it in.

EMILY OSMOND

Oh, look out. Look out. So did you have any doubts, or fears or anything like that in the lead up to or the launch of the program? Or were you like, yep, this is it and I’m doing it.

KATH BAQUIE

I’m sort of a person once I’ve got an idea and I’ve thought it through and I was just like, you know, this is this is a winner. Like when I was pregnant with my second I had really bad pelvic girdle pain. And I struggled to leave the house to go and see my physio even though I was a physio and I worked in a clinic with other physios to take my toddler. When I was in discomfort and pain and drive there, find a car park, wrestle my toddler into the clinic, get my treatment and worried that my toddler was tearing up the clinic. I knew that this was what I really wished I have had during my second pregnancy and those after birth recovery. So I guess the only doubt I probably did have was thinking how am I going to fit it all in with the time factor?

EMILY OSMOND

Talk to us about it? Like what’s it like for you figuring out and how did you figure out how to structure the program, what to include in there? What’s to price it? What offers to have? What to name it? What did that all look like for you, Kath?

KATH BAQUIE

So it’s evolved a lot. I knew that I wanted to definitely have pregnancy safe workouts for women that had the options of workouts, if you had aches and pains like pelvic girdle pain, low back pain, that sort of thing. So that was a nonnegotiable that was definitely going to be in the program. And same with the afterbirth recovery, I wanted to make sure women would be confident they were doing safe workouts to really help with their afterbirth recovery. That did evolve though, like I started off with some pre-recorded workouts. And that’s amazing for women who have a newborn baby, they might do a workout when their baby sleeping, you know, here and there. But then I also realize a lot of the mums were saying to me, I feel so unmotivated to exercise or I find that I just I don’t have the time or it’s really hard to commit. So that’s when I then after a few months, I created some live workouts to that women had to book into and they got the reminder emails. So that develops. So initially, it was just the on demand library of workouts. And now there’s the live and on demand. And I feel that that really helps with the accountability that a lot of women feel they do need with exercise, but also the flexibility that women also need when they’re a new mum or they’re pregnant. So that evolved.

And then the other nonnegotiable was that I knew that I wanted to have modules to help them with each stage of pregnancy, childbirth and after birth recovery. Because the pregnancy module which takes women through how to look after their bodies during pregnancy. There’s a childbirth module that helps women prepare for childbirth, active birth techniques, perineal massage, relaxation strategies, and then there’s the afterbirth recovery.

But I guess what changed and which was a bit of a surprise was that I involve guest expert speakers one a month. And that has been incredible. I’ve loved it. I went in to this thinking it would be very much about the physical side of pregnancy and after birth recovery, but having guest expert speakers come in. So hypnobirthing, calm birthing, mindset coaches, childbirth educators, psychologists, like it’s amazing how much of a holistic program it has become. And that is a huge benefit. And yeah, I think it’s, it’s amazing. I never thought it would become that.

EMILY OSMOND

And what was behind the decision to bring in the guest experts?

KATH BAQUIE

when I’ve joined up for programs in the past. I know sometimes I join up for a program and then think after a month or so I’m just not using the program. There’s nothing to look forward to like it’s all just the same. So having a monthly guest speaker and a monthly Q&A on a different topic each month, I think really helps with women staying engaged and really enjoying the program because there’s something to look forward to. There’s something different coming along and each time I have a guest speaker it’s recorded and then uploaded into the member hub. And the other thing that’s amazing about it is if women asked me question, if it’s not my zone of genius, like if it’s not pelvic floor related or you know, related to their bodies, I’m not going to pretend to know the answer.

However, I do have an amazing network of other healthcare professionals. So if I don’t know the answer that’s when I can bring on a guest expert speaker, and help them with whatever problem they talk to me about. So it’s pretty amazing like that. And that’s something I didn’t actually envisage, or I didn’t predict that would happen when I first started the program.

EMILY OSMOND

I love it. Because sometimes we can think it all has to be us. And also that, Oh, my gosh, I have to answer to everything or people will think that I don’t know what I’m doing. But it’s so great to bring that just those different voices, those different areas of expertise into our programs to, like you said, just be able to offer even more holistic look. And it’s a great way for you personally, I’m sure as well, which is what I found to even establish just relationships often turned into friendships with others in our space.

KATH BAQUIE

Oh, absolutely. And being a physio and it’s quite insular in terms of we go into the clinic, we’re in our little room, and we see patients and it’s great. I love to connect with the women. And I probably always will do some element of clinical work in my practice, because I think that’s really important in terms of staying, you know, engaged, but it’s very insular. Whereas being an online program, you would have thought that if you’re working from your lounge room, or your kitchen table, it would be quite isolating. And having a podcast to the FitNest Mama Podcast, it’s amazing how many other people you can meet. That’s also been a lovely surprising addition to the membership is creating a really lovely network of not just physios but other healthcare professionals.

EMILY OSMOND

How does your business and even your day to day look different now with the online program?

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, good question. It’s very different. I guess I still work one-day face to face. But the other days that I’m now working, when my kids are childcare or kinder at school, well, first of all, I have that flexibility this morning, I’d went to my daughter’s classroom and was a parent teacher helper, you know, with the reading. So just being able to block out that hour to attend school assembly. And that sort of thing is amazing. But having also that ability to connect with more women and help more women in a given timeframe. So as I said before, when I work four hours a week, I might be connecting with six amazing women. Whereas there is a long wait list for my clinical work. Whereas this way, I can see women sooner earlier and really helped them, I guess, in a timelier manner with their pregnancy and after birth recovery. So yeah, it has definitely changed the way I work. Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing. I haven’t yet worked it out. But having that flexibility with work. It’s amazing with kids because I can work in the evenings on the weekends. But then that’s also it’s a blessing and a curse.

EMILY OSMOND

And I know I’m sure others listening will be curious as to how you do what tasks you do. I know that you you’re developing a virtual team, I believe too, which is really exciting. And you mentioned Kath as well, that Since launching your membership, you’ve also gone on to launch your podcast. And I’ve said to you before, I’m just so impressed by the amount of output you have. You’re just incredible. So what does your team look like?

KATH BAQUIE

So when the membership has been open, I think we’re literally on a year now. Super exciting. It’s our first anniversary, first birthday, rather. And I’m at the stage of saying to you 2021, I do need to have some help. Because I created this membership so that I could be around for my kids and be there when needed. And you go into it with a little bit of ignorant bliss. I think, thinking, yeah, this is going to be totally doable. So I do need to outsource more and get some more help so that I can still really just focus on the mums in the membership, and really help them achieve their goals. So yes, this year is the year of getting some help with the admin side of things.

EMILY OSMOND

That so great, Kath, because I found for me, that was, yeah, it’s a very good move to get someone to help with that admin because it’s all the little things that take up time, but it’s not really actually moving the membership forward and, and helping, like you said, the women in the group, so I’m sure you’ll feel just a bit of a weight off your shoulders to have someone managing some of those things. Yeah.

KATH BAQUIE

Can’t wait. Can it happen now?

EMILY OSMOND

Yeah. And going back to you have I believe you have like, do you have a podcast team?

KATH BAQUIE

Yes. Luckily, I realized right from the outset, if I’m going to do a podcast and do need to outsource editing and the production side of things. So I think you’ve got me on to Brianna from the media. She’s amazing. And I just handball her the interview thing.

EMILY OSMOND

All the things like, Okay, here you go, you take it for me. Yeah, perfect. And you got a virtual assistant as well?

KATH BAQUIE

That’s just in the last month. Yes, she helps you the podcast side of things, too. And I think being a mum, as well, and you know, trying to balance work and mum life, you become quite protective of your time. Because if I’m not working, I’m looking after the kids. So if I’m working more, it means less being involved with the kids. So I’ve really got to try to honour that work time. And the work that I’m going to do is I really want to just help the mums and help the business. It’s an interesting balance. And it’s all very new to me as well. I didn’t find I had that during the clinical work, you go to your clinic, you do your work, you finish your notes, go home. Whereas Yeah, it’s fun. It’s a whole new aspect of business life that I also didn’t anticipate, but it’s great.

EMILY OSMOND

And Kathy, your membership has grown quite substantially, since when you first opened the doors to it to now would you like to share what that looks like now in terms of the women and the number of them that you’re helping, which is just crazy. It’s amazing.

KATH BAQUIE

It’s been amazing having women just yet join up from all parts of Australia, from New Zealand as well. So I launched with just a handful of mums. And I think also a handful of friends who were pregnant at the time. And it’s grown like throughout the course of the membership I’ve had, yeah, there’s been over 130 sign up over the whole period.

EMILY OSMOND

And can you imagine that, by the way, 130 women that you’ve impacted through their pregnancy journey, like when you think about it that way? It’s amazing.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, it’s fun. And we’re still in the infantile stages. And I’ve never thought work would be so much fun. Like, I’ve always loved my work. And my friends always roll their eyes when I talk about work. But now that I’ve got this membership, I just love it even more. It’s beautiful to be able to help women and the community, I think, is one of the nicest things of the membership. Like all the mums chatting inside our private Facebook group and connecting. It’s fun. Yeah.

EMILY OSMOND

So good, Kath. What would you say to anyone else? That’s perhaps where you were a year ago. And considering perhaps this is something that they can add to their business too. What’s your advice to them?

KATH BAQUIE

I do think ignorance is bliss. So to a certain degree, just dive into it. Like if you feel that you’ve got information to share that, again, like what I had, I kept, I felt like I kept repeating myself and offering similar advice and information to my pregnant and new mums. And I thought this this information, I can imagine if all women knew this, if what you’re doing now, you’re finding repetitive in nature a little bit, or that you can systemize it, then go for it, the memberships evolved so much, it’s started totally different.

So you don’t need to launch or you don’t need to start it with the endpoint in mind, just start out with the basics and build and grow from there. And the beauty of doing that as well as it grows with you members. So as I said, when my members will ask me a question, I’d be like, “That’s brilliant! Let’s create Q&A on our show.”, “Let’s create a resource to help you.”, Yeah, so you can really mould your membership to be exactly what your members want and need, and what will really help them. So just going for it, building it, listen to your members and evolve.

EMILY OSMOND

So good, Kath. And yeah, that’s what I love, too, is that it’s never set in stone. So we can take the pressure off ourselves knowing let’s experiment with this. And that’s what I say even today, you might have seen that email to the Modern Marketing collective, I’m just experimenting with a different structure for doing the course. And I said, you know, this is just an experiment. And we’ll see how this goes. So, it gives us that creativity and to also keep adjusting and adapting and improving to which is really, really cool. But we can’t do that until we start and we get it out there.

KATH BAQUIE

Yeah, it’s what they say, isn’t it? You can read all the manuals in the world about driving a car until you actually get in the car. Learn to drive. So you do just have to dive into a certain degree.

EMILY OSMOND

That’s it, Kath. And what’s next with you? What’s ahead for your business?

KATH BAQUIE

It’s really just consolidating what I’ve built over the last year and adapting it and making it the best it can be. I think it’s really important not to go into too many different places all at once, but really just trying to hone in on FitNest Mama, like let her just evolve and I get every new member that comes in brings something different as well and brings different questions. So I just love the evolution. And I’m not in a rush to go on and do anything different although I do have ideas.

EMILY OSMOND

I know, like, we got to focus. We got to focus. Keep building the thing we’ve got.

KATH BAQUIE

There’s nothing on the horizon except for just really let’s hone in on FitNest Mama and keep rolling it and evolving it to really help the mums in it.

EMILY OSMOND

Well, Kath, thank you so much for joining me today and for just chatting with me about what it’s like for you to go from being fully clinical in the practice to actually just evolving the business to now offer the online community and educational resources and support for the women that you can help so much and for them to have a space that they can seek access and advice from you and other experts too. Congratulations on what you’ve created.

KATH BAQUIE

You’re just pivotal in helping me with this and your support throughout. You’re always there to cheer me on and cheer us all on inside scalable so brilliant. Thank you.

EMILY OSMOND

Thanks, Kath. I’ll chat with you really soon.

KATH BAQUIE

Thanks, Em.

And before I sign off, remember my team and I will be putting together the Show Notes for this episode, with all the links including how to connect with Emily Osmond at https://fitnestmama.com/ podcast. And lastly, if you’re enjoying this podcast, to be able to leave a rating and a review would mean the world to me. Not only does it make my day, but it also really helps this podcast get discovered by other pregnant and new mums who might really benefit from listening to a few of these podcast episodes. So that’s it. Have a fabulous day everyone and I look forward to you joining me next week for another episode of the Fitnest Mama Podcast.