Emma Jones supports women as they navigate the physical, physiological and emotional process of becoming a mother, helping them to thrive and not just survive the transition to motherhood. She recognises that mums spend a lot of time preparing for birth, then putting their energy and love into caring for their babies after birth, and she advocates for women after they leave the birthing space, providing support and nurturing the mother and womb that carried these precious babies. Having felt isolated, tired and constantly questioning the choices she made in her own early stages of motherhood, it became her mission to make postpartum care a necessity not a luxury. Here Emma talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the passion behind The Jones Way, how she balances work and family life, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I am an advocate for closing the gap in modern day motherhood and transitioning back to a communal approach to motherhood, honouring and nurturing not only babies but mum too. Through postpartum in a village form, the concept of mothering the mother is how I try to explain it to my husband.
Through navigating my own journey in motherhood, it became abundantly clear that pregnancy, birth and the fourth trimester have deeply transitioned to a baby-focused journey, and we’ve lost the sense of village to nurture and support mothers, as they heal, learn and grow in their motherhood journey.
I felt isolated, tired and constantly questioned choices I made because there was no one to turn to in my time of need. Our families are on the East Coast of Australia so it was just a small 6500km trip to get a cuddle from my mum.
I felt like a duck in water when it came to transitioning to motherhood but what I didn’t prepare for was the mental struggle of feeling alone in the most important time of my life, especially through the sleep deprivation, juggling the domestic workload and finding my feet in my new role in motherhood – it would become quite overwhelming.
This quickly turned into a passion which grew, evolved and blossomed in more ways than I could have ever imagined. It has now become my mission to make postpartum care a necessity not a luxury.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started with a small social media presence and word of mouth (which spreads pretty quickly in small towns like ours). I vocalise this a lot on my platform. Running a small business in 2022 is 2 full-time jobs – you have the services you provide (in my case doula offerings), which also includes admin, accounting, etc., and another full-time job in keeping up with social media content and presence.
Like most small businesses, the first year has been tough, beautiful and so unbelievably rewarding but with a small family of my own, there are moments that make you wonder. I have spent many hours and nights preparing, creating and building this beautiful business, it is really nice to see that I am reaping the benefits of all the groundwork. It’s even more satisfying when you know it’s helping mamas in their transitions to motherhood.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
I truly believe being authentically you and owning your truth in your business allows like-minded people to follow and want to use your services. Staying consistent in my messaging, my branding and the support I give to mothers has created a great platform and home for mums to turn to online. I think it’s nice as a mum knowing there is this whole online community of women supporting you, in your corner and only a message away.
In July this year, I released my first Postpartum Planner eBook on my website, which has been extremely successful, more successful than I ever anticipated. I then had quite a few of these sales turn into paying doula clients, purchasing larger packages and spreading the word of our capabilities to support mums.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
This is a tough one. I have 3 under 3, including 7-month-old twins. My days are consumed in breastfeeds, nappy changes, snack making and all things mum life. I have calendar reminders with scheduled periods of the day to get the kids down whilst I nut out some work.
All my home visits are scheduled in advance, so I prepare for these at night and have family supporting our home whilst I support my mums.
The rest of my work (there can at times be a lot) is completed over a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit at night.
It can be really hard to turn off the phone, emails and appointment requests at times, but I am a huge advocate for being a present parent, so I try my hardest to practise what I preach.
