"We are huge believers in setting boundaries" with Jamie O’Day and Emily Silver

Boston NAPS was founded by Jamie O’Day, a Labor and Delivery Registered Nurse, and Emily Silver, a Family Nurse Practitioner. Jamie and Emily are also International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs).

As they prepared their patients for discharge after coaching and supporting them through their labor, while working the overnight shift as labor & delivery nurses in Boston, their patients would often jokingly say, “If only we could take you home with us!”

In 2011, Jamie and Emily aimed to do just that: Start an innovative company comprised of trained medical professionals that would fill the gap after new parents return home with their newborns. They don’t just work with expecting or new parents, they are also moms ourselves, and their advice is based on real-life experience, not just medical training.

website: www.bostonnaps.com

Can you tell our readers about your background? 

I and my business partner, Emily, are both registered nurses and lactation consultants. We met in 2009 while working together as labor and delivery nurses at a busy Boston hospital, and instantly became friends. We started our business, Boston NAPS, in 2011 while still working on labor and delivery, and now 9 years later, we have 5 girls between the two of us, all under the age of 5. Our approach to supporting women and families through pregnancy and early childhood is combining the worlds of medical advice and real-life advice to cut through the noise and provide women and families with a clear direction in their parenting journeys with the goal of creating more confident parents. 

What inspired you to start your business? 

One of our favorite parts about working on labor and delivery was the challenge of developing a strong and trusted relationship with our patients in a very short period of time. Labor and delivery is such an intimate experience, and we felt privileged to be a part of that moment in our patient’s lives, and always wanted our patients to like and trust us. After supporting women through their labor and delivery, this would oftentimes result in patients asking us if we could then go home with them (maybe jokingly?) We would laugh, and tell them “we wish!” But, then we really started thinking about whether or not we could actually do this, and started researching what kind of support was available to families after delivery in their home, and found that the support was very limited. So with that knowledge, we decided we wanted to be the ones to fill that gap for families, and that’s exactly what we did and continue to do with Boston NAPS to this day.

Where is your business based?

Our business is primarily located in Boston and the greater Boston area. All of our in-person offerings, including daytime and overnight nursing care, lactation consultations, prenatal classes, baby & me classes, and children’s classes are available to anyone in MA. However, we do also have a number of virtual offerings for people anywhere, which include prenatal classes, new mom support groups, lactation visits, and coming soon, and a brand new membership program called Nurture by NAPS. The membership experience includes video instruction, downloadable PDFS, online classes, live Q & A sessions with Emily, and I, an “ask a nurse feature”.  The membership provides a clear and direct blueprint for how to use it in order to get the best results for you and for your baby. The membership will focus on 4 key areas: feedings, sleep, developmental milestones, and physical and mental health for mom, in order to ensure your baby is thriving and you are feeling reassured and confident as a parent. 

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

Step 1: Fill a pot with water, Step 2: Turn the stove on, and place the pot of water on the stove Step 3: Wait for the water to boil, and then add the spaghetti to the water Step 4: Once the spaghetti is done cooking, grab a handful of spaghetti and throw it at the wall, and see what sticks. 

Ok, so I’m (kind of) joking! But the truth is, we didn’t have any real kind of plan let alone an intricate business plan! We saw a need, we researched if there was anything or anyone meeting that need, and when we saw there was a gap, we filled the gap! We each put in $5,000 of our own money (an arbitrary number at the time), randomly applied for an LLC one day, hired a lawyer to make our employee and client contracts, and hired someone to create our website. Four months later we had a working website and our first client and made back our initial investment with that first year. 

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business? 

When we first started our business, it was all about pounding the pavement. We were lucky to have relationships with the doctors we worked with, who would refer their patients to us, but we had to work hard to develop relationships with other providers including other local obstetricians and pediatricians. So, we would grab a box of supplies and pick an area of MA, write down all of the providers and their addresses in that area, and then just show up at their office and pitch ourselves and our business to them. We probably failed more than succeeded with people actually taking our supplies and not throwing them in the trash as soon as we left, but we always felt like that was still a win because they at least heard our name for the first time or maybe again, and then would hopefully hear it again from a patient or a family member or friend. Now, the majority of our business comes from client referrals and also social media, good SEM, and strategic google ad and social media ad campaigns. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? 

Our biggest challenges have been managing all of the things life throws at you while also trying to handle running a business. We are lucky to have each other, because if we didn’t, I can honestly say that our business wouldn’t be where it is today, or exist at all. I can specifically remember a 6 month period of time from July 2015 - December 2015, when my first daughter was 6 months old, and Emily had just had her first daughter on July 18th, and my father-in-law unexpectedly passed away on July 27th. Emily didn’t hesitate to just swoop in and figure out a plan to keep our business running smoothly without me, and with barely even a 2 week old baby at home.  Within that same 6 months, Emily’s mom was diagnosed with cancer, went through radiation, and eventually surgery. At the same time, I found out I was expecting again with twins, and then miscarried, one of my husband’s friends unexpectedly passed away, and then the real icing on the cake: mine and Emily’s best friend was hit by a car and passed away. And that was just 6 months’ time! We only made it through those times, and all of the other good and bad times, because we have each other. When one is down, the other is up, and we have always and will continue to always put our families and our friendship first. 

How do you stay focused?

Our focus comes from surrounding ourselves with others who keep us motivated and inspired! That includes our amazing clients, and also our group of amazing fellow entrepreneurs who are also moms. We started a group about 3 years ago with 4 other women, who are also moms, and who run their own businesses, and that has been life-changing! These women are our support system, our sounding board, and our motivation to do and be better personally and professionally. 

How do you differentiate your business from the competition? 

The standard to which we hold ourselves and our team is second to none. Everyone on our team working with an expecting, new, or experienced mom is at least a Registered Nurse or Nurse Practitioner. And since Emily and I are also moms, we pride ourselves on being able to combine the often conflicting worlds of medical advice with real-life parenting advice. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business? 

Ourselves! We are very authentic when it comes to who we are, what we represent, and how we can help women and families regardless of where they are in their parenting journey. Our clients know and trust us, and want to hear what has and hasn’t worked for us in our parenting journeys. Our parenting journeys are very different, and people love to see that we can both be “good” parents even though we are doing it differently. That’s exactly what we are helping our clients achieve, finding the right way to do this whole parenting thing that works for them and their families, and not to worry about the million other right ways to do it. 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs? 

Get comfortable with putting C+/B- work into the world, knowing that you are just putting it out there. Things will never be perfect, and you will never be putting A+ work out into the work, and that’s ok. Because if you wait for that, you will never start, and that’s far worse!

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

I love everything, Brene Brown. She encompasses all of the things I want to learn more about both personally and professionally. She runs her own business, she studies the impact of the relationships between parents and children, and she’s a mom. Everything she puts out into the world, I have found value in, and I read and listen to her as much as I can. 

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

A good business coach! I have worked with business coaches 1:1 and also through Brooke Castillo’s online program Self Coaching Scholars. These resources have provided me with an invaluable wealth of knowledge that has led to huge professional and personal growth. 

Who is your business role model? Why? 

Sarah Blakely, the founder of SPANX. She was one of the first women in business to go against the grain, and do it differently, and be vulnerable in a world where the vulnerability was (and still is) seen as weakness, and she has absolutely crushed it! Even more than that, she has used her success to continue to help those less fortunate than her and to spoil the ones she loves. She takes her girlfriends on a surprise, all expenses paid vacation every year on her birthday,  and we want to be able to do that one day for the people we love in our lives! 

How do you balance work and life? 

Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries! We are huge believers in setting boundaries, with each other, with our clients, with our partners, family, friends, and most importantly ourselves. And honoring those boundaries. That means sometimes having really difficult conversations. But, you only become stronger and better working and living through difficult things, so while it may be hard at times, it’s so worth it! 

Also, it’s really important to understand that balance doesn't mean 50/50 all the time. And as soon as you can understand and accept that you will never be able to give 100% to your business and 100% to your family, the sooner you will achieve this “balance”.  The balance comes from some days (or weeks, or months!) giving 70% to the business and 30% to your family, and other times it’s the opposite. That’s where the balance comes from, not split down the middle all of the time. This also leaves us feeling like we are never giving 100% to anything, and again, we’re not! Because that’s not possible, it’s only possible to give more to the areas of your life that need it at any given time, and less to the other things. We know that the pendulum always swings the other way when the time is right. We are very intentional about how we use our time, and again, setting boundaries with those who need them depending on where you are focusing your attention.

What’s your favorite way to decompress? 

It’s an ongoing joke among my husband and my sisters that all I ever want for a gift is a cold, dark hotel room!  And Emily and I actually both agree that this is our favorite way to decompress.  We love traveling and it’s not only enjoyable to be in new places, but we can catch up on sleep, not have a schedule that we have to adhere to, can relax, read, or even do nothing!  When we travel together and are alone like this, we do our best to brainstorming and dreaming for our company.

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

We have big plans for the next six months! We are launching a membership program (coming in June) to be able to support women and families anytime, anywhere from pregnancy through early childhood. As moms who have been pregnant and labored a combined 5 times, and who have been working with women and families for over 10 years, Emily and I know what expecting and new parents need and want. So we are cutting through all of the noise, and giving families a blueprint of exactly what they can and should be focusing on in the different stages of their pregnancy or parenting journey. This will help parents reach every parent’s ultimate goal:: a happy, healthy child that you feel confident and comfortable caring for. 

How can our readers connect with you?

Any way they want! We are very accessible, and you can reach us via email at hello@bostonnaps.com, through our website www.bostonnaps.com, or through social media @bostonnaps on Instagram and Facebook. We love connecting and collaborating with other women-owned businesses, and always welcome a message or e-mail!