Erin Thomas Wong (00:52)
Hello and welcome back to the Life Friendly Business podcast. I talk a lot about adopting a life-friendly approach and what that's meant for me, but I really wanted to take the opportunity to invite some of the women along that I work with who are adopting the life-friendly business approach.
not only in their business, but also with visibility. And I'm thrilled to have Katherine Whitby here today to have you.
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (01:18)
So nice to be here.
Erin Thomas Wong (01:20)
So, Katherine
has been part of my world for, we were just working out 15 years and you are a paediatric nurse and you were formerly a health visitor and now you help parents to learn the essentials on baby and toddler first aid, weaning and all those really important things. Do you just want to explain a little bit more about what you do?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (01:26)
Yeah.
Yeah, sure. So yeah, I started my business next year, it'll actually be 20 years ago, Baby Steps. I've been in the NHS 30 years. My background is that I am, as you said, registered paediatric nurse and a health visitor. I'm also a maternal wellbeing practitioner. And I started Baby Steps back in 2006 when I was working as a health visitor in London. And I could see even then that services were really stretched. So certain things had been kind of part of bread and
of health visiting were being cut. And I very, very much wanted to make sure that I could fill that gap for parents. So I started offering courses. At that point, it was in people's homes. And I've continued doing that ever since. But really, the essence of everything that I do is about giving parents reassurance, confidence, peace of mind, so that they can relax and enjoy their babies.
that 20 years has been huge changes which I'm sure we'll talk about but that common thread has stayed the same really so whether I'm helping parents in person, in the last six years I've had a physical space, a studio, I'm on the Hampshire-Surrey border where I've been able to offer courses and lovely events, whether I'm in their home or whether I'm working online that really is the essence to help parents in those early days and months when they've got their new baby just to really build their confidence
yeah just offer that reassurance really that's so needed at such a vulnerable time.
Erin Thomas Wong (03:09)
Yeah, I think that that support for new mums is so invaluable. And I know that my experience would have been very different if I'd known you when I had my first because when you become a new mum, and as we know now, it's called this time of matrescence. I just remember feeling so lost and anxious about to keep this tiny human alive.
And like you say, you know, even back then, 17 years ago, the help was really, really stretched. And now even more so, I mean, what's happening for the women that are coming to work with you when they have a new baby?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (03:49)
Yeah, so I think really since the pandemic, the professional support and I do still work in the NHS, I still regularly work in a paediatric A &E department in London where I've worked for 25 years. So I see hands on listening to the mums that I have in my classes, but also in, you know, on the front line as it were. The professional support really since the pandemic has fallen off the cliff for postnatal mums and parents. So you don't typically now get a midwifery visit when you first have a baby.
you're asked to kind of go to a hub, which might mean, certainly for where I live, you could be getting in a car the day after you've got home or very soon after you've had your baby or from the C-section to go to a hub, which might be a 20-minute drive. You're kind of trying to navigate that your baby might need feeding and what do you need to put in your bag. You do still get a visit from a health visitor around about two weeks, but there isn't the weekly baby clinic that I certainly used to run as a health visitor.
with my own two children, I've got two children myself and that was kind of very much part of our routine was to go to the health visitor clinic. So it really has become a very different world professionally in terms of postnatal support and that's not in any way a criticism to the NHS, it's just purely that, you know, things have got so stretched and they have got cut. So I've got the kind of practical support that I offer in terms of first aid to give them peace of mind and confidence weaning when they
start on solids, but I've also very much got this emotional support, which is the five week baby massage relaxation and then the six week soulful mama course, which as you said, is very much focused on matrescence And that's a conversation that just isn't really had out loud still now in 2025, like these huge emotional, hormonal, social, physical changes that you go through when you become a mum. And that six week course really does focus on that. And ideally that would be something that all mums would have access to.
and get to benefit So yeah, I find whatever it is, even with first aid and weaning, there's a lot of emotions around that as well. So it's all very, very much interwoven
Erin Thomas Wong (05:57)
because these services are now lacking, where are these mums turning to for advice?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (06:03)
Yeah, so that has become a real shift. And I'd say I really, really noticed it last year in 2024 that the professional support has massively declined. Also that kind of village that we talk about in raising a child, know, many people now, the way that the world is and where we all live and how we live, that isn't often And the reality is parents are massively, massively turning to social media. So TikTok, Instagram,
the thing I've noticed with that is that unfortunately because there can be so much confusing and conflicting advice because essentially anyone can post anything onto social
not always in a well-meaning way, if we're really honest about it. The algorithms will pick up that the parents are looking at weaning or sleep or whatever it may be, and the algorithms go crazy. And unfortunately, those parents are getting completely and utterly overwhelmed with information. And that has changed hugely. mean, 20 years ago, when I started health visiting, Dr. Google was starting to happen. And that was professionally something I needed to very, very much get up to speed with because parents could access
information very quickly, again unfortunately always from trustworthy evidence-based resources. now that's just gone through the stratosphere with social media and the overwhelm these parents are feeling, the pressure just and it's unfortunately having a really, really negative effect and a huge increase in anxiety.
Erin Thomas Wong (07:30)
And like you say, that this is the problem, isn't it? Is that, you know, you don't know what the sources are that this information is coming from. And so they're falling down a Google rabbit hole, or like you say, going on TikTok. So, you know, for you, as someone who is, an authority in this area, and you know, you're trained to help mums, how do you put yourself out there? And how do you let people know that actually you're the one that you that could help them? You're the one they should be listening to.
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (07:58)
I think that that has become more and more of a challenge because ultimately nowadays everyone is kind of calling themselves an expert. know, that's the challenge and I completely recognise that for parents it's really difficult. They may recognise they need help in a certain area but actually who can they trust? So I think trust is a huge thing. For me, I just need to keep falling back on my experience. I've got 30 years experience in helping parents.
work hands-on with parents in the NHS and with Baby Steps. I'm a mum of two myself and I think for me my messaging now has hugely shifted in the last year because I recognise now that the landscape has hugely changed. mean there's no question and it's not going to kind of go back as it were. So more than just the kind of ideal preparation for example say for weaning when babies are moving onto solid food ideally
parents would do a weaning course, they'd do a first day course so they feel really comfortable and confident, they know they can turn to me, get in touch with me at any time. think parents possibly to save money are turning to apps and other sources, WhatsApp but then unfortunately that overwhelm is kicking in when they're not really sure what feels right for them and their family or they're getting confused or constantly conflicting information and so I'm actually potentially getting contacted more and more.
by parents that are further down the line, their babies are more like six to ten months and so really I'm trying to unpick then the anxiety and overwhelm that's built up. So working more on a one-to-one with just really to try and give that support, help them know they're not alone. So many parents are experiencing this and I try and work on a bit of a three-pronged approach in that scenario where I'm looking at the first aid to give them confidence, the weaning, bespoke, where they're at.
what's going to work for their family and then a huge amount of support around stress because by that point the stress has really, really built up. I'm also noticing it with health. So parents are getting more and more worried about their babies or young children becoming Again, because of what they're seeing and hearing on social media. So not only with weaning are they getting videos flash up babies choking or babies having allergic reactions, but they're things flash up with, you know, your baby could have this or this could happen. And it's just creating huge...
anxiety and babies and children will get ill that's part of them developing their natural immunity but the perspective on that has gone you know just completely crazy and so parents are needing to again unpick that so I'm really trying to support parents with that as well so I do still have those kind of standard courses and support that ideally parents do do but I've also got that support when they do feel that you know it's just got to the point where they can't manage and
you know, I can hopefully step in and take away that
Erin Thomas Wong (10:52)
I cannot imagine how much it would have contributed to my anxiety if I'd been constantly fed videos of babies choking at the time when I was weaning because, you know, I know we've talked about this that, and with weaning, I remember being really scared about the first aid stuff and my son had a febrile convulsion, that how you call it? Yeah. And, and that led to a lot of anxiety for me and he had allergies and things like that.
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (10:58)
and then...
Yeah.
Erin Thomas Wong (11:19)
But I don't remember feeling that anxious about weaning. But then when we started talking about it and you were telling me all these things that are coming up for people on social media babies choking and of allergic reactions. And it just feels like it's such a shame because, you know, one part of you would think, well, it's great that they've got access to information on the internet and also access to a community of people.
you know, for support. But it sounds like there's this really dark side, which is actually really quite dangerous for these new mums who are very fragile as it is.
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (11:55)
Yeah, you're incredibly vulnerable. We know that the goes through the biggest change it can ever go through in a lifetime when you have a baby. And that change lasts for know that the effects of social media, we know that that kind of whole scrolling thing is addictive.
And that in a real, real challenge for parents to potentially recognise that it's not helping them, that this information is actually helping them and it's adding to their anxiety.
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (12:25)
I now have created what I'm calling a weaning SOS service. I've also got that for health anxiety as and again it's just really been able to support these parents to unpick where they're at at the time, what's possibly contributed to that because sometimes parents have difficulties getting
they may have had a really difficult they may have had difficulties with their birth, with their feeding, and so by the time they get to the point of or their baby's getting those few months they haven't necessarily got the professional support, they may be getting very conflicting information, and I think even family that are being well-meaning and trying to give advice, weaning has changed in a generation, but even just quite common sense advice, somehow it seems a bit out of date because it's not through this
channel of social media. It's someone giving advice is perfectly good but it's not seeming that way because we're getting used to it receiving and accessing information in a different way.
Erin Thomas Wong (13:22)
So as a business owner, how are you navigating this that now you know that your ideal clients are looking on social media for the answers. So how are you getting yourself out there so that hopefully they find you?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (13:38)
Yes, I think it's definitely been, I'm recognising massively that this is a time of transition because I think sort of the more traditional ways that I've been working for, you know, a long time, things have changed and I think I'm trying very much to ask parents, I'm about to do a huge survey, to really tap in to find out what it is parents are looking for, you know, because are they accessing information more online? Are they still wanting that face-to-face in-person support? I still go and support parents at home.
or here at the But my messaging needs to be really, really clear and I think it's this this absolute fact that they're not on their own, that there's plenty of other parents experiencing And I've needed to shift my service to offer support really, really as well. I've just been trying to as much as possible go to events where I can speak because I the difficulty now is there's so many so many different
voices and people that they're seeing and hearing, it's just trying to break through that noise again go back to my professional my kind of hopefully you know very empathetic approach and I think if people get to hear me or see me
that know, like and trust, whereas, you know, there's people flashing and putting different things up on social media or someone might say something when they're out in a cafe or they're seeing something on a WhatsApp group. And I'm just trying to that voice of reassurance really and confidence and build their confidence. think a lot of what's happening parents aren't feeling they can just trust their gut instincts, which is what we've all used since the beginning of time. And I think that can get quite lost as well. definitely try
to get to I'm using video in my social media a lot more. mean, the irony is saying parents need to be wary of social media and kind of who they're listening to and who they're seeing. But again, I think if I'm able to graphics and things like that, pictures are really useful at times, them getting to know me as And then, yeah, really making sure that my website's reflecting what I'm And yeah, as
much as possible I think just trying to go directly to parents so that I can really try and show them that you know I can offer them that support.
Erin Thomas Wong (15:50)
So if you're spending a lot of time trying to, you know, be in the places that they are, and like you say, video is amazing for that connection, because when someone meets you in real life, they can see how warm you are and how reassuring you would be when they're at crisis point, which is what you're getting a lot of now. But it's like, how do we get that online? And video is a perfect way to do that. But how do you...
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (16:05)
.
Erin Thomas Wong (16:14)
keep a life-friendly approach to doing this? Like, because so many people feel like with social media, they have to be everywhere all the time, and it can feel overwhelming. So how are you managing that?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (16:22)
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, to be honest, I don't feel that side of things that she's massively changed. I I set up my business 20 years ago before I had children. Baby Steps is my first baby. I had, you know, a good few years of Baby Steps before I had my own children. And it really was with the idea that, you know, as a nurse, you work shifts. And I knew that really I wanted to try and have that flexibility when we hopefully did have a family. Those hours have evolved over the years because
obviously when they were little, there wasn't kind of a school hours that they are now, there are now. My children are in their teens now, but I very much want to kind of be around for them after school. Weekends now, I don't work as much as I used to, and I really try and keep as much as possible the school holidays very much for them. I mean, the joy of online is you can pick it up, do little bits here and there, and you can obviously tap into things as you need to, but that's always kind of been my framework.
they are a bit more independent now so I'm able to do a bit more in the holidays and things but that's guess my boundary as it were is that I know I will definitely answer things as quickly as I can but first and foremost I'm there for my children.
Erin Thomas Wong (17:34)
And what support have you got for yourself and your business?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (17:39)
Yeah, so I am, you know, as a nurse professionally, we're really always encouraged to reflect and talk about experiences. I have to do a big piece of work every three years to maintain my registration as a nurse and a health visitor. And I'm about to do that now this year. So that professionally is really important, my accountability. But if I'm honest, it's been your support because I am a nurse. I'm not a business person at all. I can go on what I see is the need for
parents, but in terms of the tools that I need to run my business, that has been brand new for me. And in 20 years, that has changed hugely. know, 20 years ago, I didn't have social media. I didn't start my business with any social media. I had a website. And other than that, really, it was word of mouth and it was little magazines locally where I would have an advert. So that makes it sound like I started it about 50 years ago.
changed hugely in a relatively short space of time. So yeah, it's really as much as possible just trying to manage that in a way that then still works with my family and myself. I definitely am aware to try and practice what I preach in terms of looking after myself. So I'm great one for going for doing exercise, fresh air, having little pamper bits and relaxing bits here and there.
and you know I'm a working mum of two so I do know how difficult that is especially with the new mums that I work with but ultimately I'm trying to practice what I preach in that if we keep our kind of cups full, topped up, then that's going to help us well for the new mums looking after their babies and for me juggling everything else I've also got parents now that I need to care for as well so it's kind of that juggle with teenagers and parents so yeah just definitely especially you know making sure I've got
people I can talk to if there's certain cases that come up that can be quite emotional as well.
Erin Thomas Wong (19:37)
I know one thing we talk about a lot in our messages is about the 5%. So how do you use the 5 % rule?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (19:42)
Yes.
Yes,
the 5 % for me is absolutely gold. mean, that is pretty much a lot, know, many days how I run my business. So 5 % is picking out those absolutely need to do tasks, prioritizing what I need to do that day. As you know, things come up with kids getting sick or my mum was, you know, very suddenly diagnosed with stage four cancer. And it really was the 5 % that kind of kept things ticking over. And it's amazing actually, sometimes it's always
good to go back to that because there's been times like lockdown and homeschooling or yeah when my mum was diagnosed and you know life is completely thrown up in the air and sometimes they've been the times when my business has really thrived and I'm thinking yeah but these aren't the days when I'm at a laptop from you know beginning of the day to the end of the day or they're not the days when I feel like I've absolutely worked my finger to the bone so it's kind of again it's back to that balance really and
I think the 5 % is just incredible for anyone running a business, especially when you are trying to have that It's absolutely key.
Erin Thomas Wong (20:53)
Just to explain for anyone watching who hasn't heard me talk about the 5%, this is James Wedmore talks about this saying that 5 % of the activities that we do in our business actually yield 95 % of the results, but basically 5 % are the things that are really going to move the needle, but that we spend way too much time being stuck in the 95%. And often the 95 % are the easiest things to do. So we feel like, oh, I'll just get those things done.
And then we don't actually feel like we've made much traction, even though we've been super busy. So if we can focus on the 5%, we can make more progress. So that's great. And you have been part of The Visibility Commitment since the beginning. I think we were just saying, actually, you've done all of my programmes. Which is amazing. But how have you found having the support of The Visibility Commitment
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (21:38)
Thank
I think for me the word that I would use time and time again with it is clarity. I think I am running a business where I've got a few different things that need my attention. So I've got things I want at the studio, courses and events that ideally obviously I want to support parents with and get them to come along to. I've got the fact I do private one-to-one work and then I've also got the online courses which is something I'm really passionate about because not everyone is going to be able to get to the studio, not everyone.
everyone is going to be able to say, you know, that's great, come to my home, physically because of distance or for whatever other reason. So that is a huge thing that I'm building more and more on.
just think The Visibility has given me such clarity as to where to focus because ultimately I can't support people if they don't know about my if they don't know what I offer, if they don't know how I can help them. And so it's given me that clarity of like know, just kind wading through all the different things that I could be doing actually what is going to work, what is going to work the most effectively. And ultimately that's a constant change. I if I think of when I
The Visibility Mastermind to my messaging is changing because the landscape has changed.
impact that social media has had on parents has become more more profound in a way that I now need to support them with an additional service, an additional kind of angle that I wasn't really focused on at the And so again, it comes back to that clarity. How can I get myself visible? How can I get myself out there so that parents can about support that I can give
Erin Thomas Wong (23:23)
think it's so important that you said about the evolving nature of it as well, because it's so easy for us to just think, I just need to get my marketing sorted. just need to get and like, it's the fact that it's never done, that might not be nice to hear, but it's something that we need to, you know, see as a continual activity in our business and also be very intentional. You know, that's exactly what you've just demonstrated there. Like,
It's all very well doing loads of Facebook lives and Instagram lives about tips for parents, but you need to be bread crumbing them to, you know, the products and services that are going to help them further. Because otherwise we're just kind of putting stuff out there, not really being intentional. And then we won't have a business. So it's hard to get that balance right.
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (24:04)
No.
Definitely. I think I'm recognizing this is a sort of period of change in that, you know, there's definitely a different way that parents are accessing information. And so I need to make sure that I'm there with a very clear offering. Like I do a lot of free guides, free videos, free different things for them to be able to access. And that needs to be very clear that I've got that there for them. And I'm listening.
to what it is they might need specifically. Right, okay, great, I'll create a guide around that. I'll do a video about that. I need to be listening to what it is that they need. So as much as possible, I'm just trying to be very kind of direct with things, hit the nail on the head as it were as much as possible. And that's constantly changing. And for me, I think the last say six years has been crazy in change. We moved from London where I'd run Baby Steps for 13
years. I had a kind of very tried and tested model where I went to groups or individuals in their home. Then I've got the studio here which is amazing but I've had to completely re-establish myself in a new
Then we've had the pandemic, which obviously flipped everything on its head for businesses had to pivot in some direction. Then we've come out of that, got cost of living crisis. And then now I'm completely recognizing that there's been a shift in the way that...
parents have, you know, really very little professional support. And, you know, I think it's a really vulnerable So all in all, with all of that, it's been so necessary for me to have this support it can be quite a lot to try and navigate and work out yourself. So I literally can't say enough how much the support your community, as I'm in The Cocoon and coming to things like The Momentum Day and then, you know,
The Visibility that's it. You're honing in on exactly what is it that you need to do to try to reach as many people, reach the people that need what you can give them. for me, it's literally like in my DNA to be able to try and get that support out there, to try and, this advice for some families when they're needing it is just literally game changing. It's life changing for them. had a mum that contacted me and she wasn't able to
go to work because she was so worried about she got to with her son with weaning. affecting family life always the babies are absolutely fine. It's just that the parents got into a state where they're just feeling so anxious they feel they're behind or they feel it's not going well or it's gone wrong and it's just really trying to get them on the right track.
Erin Thomas Wong (26:49)
It's just amazing that you are able to support them in their time of need. you know, that's why, like you say, it's so important that we continually work at how to get you out to more people because they need to hear what you've got to say. So it's amazing. So before we finish off, first of all, how can people get in touch with you? And then secondly, what would be your top tip for any small business owners listening?
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (27:15)
Okay, my website is baby-steps.co.uk. I'm on Instagram, which is @babystepsx like a kiss on the end, And then on TikTok, it's @babystepswithkatherine. Facebook is @babystepsx with again, a little X, like a kiss.
advice for any other business owners funnily enough it's a piece of advice that I do give parents that I work with as well But it's to try not to compare I think it can be so so easy to compare your situation to other business owners you might be looking at them thinking my goodness they've been doing their business might be looking and thinking they're so busy and actually sometimes social media can portray they're they've got loads of
to do social media because they're not that busy. might be thinking of things in monetary value. I think it's staying true to your why. Like, why are you doing the business that you do? I'm doing the business that I do because I'm absolutely passionate about helping new parents to as relaxed and enjoy that precious, precious time with their babies as much as possible. But I'm also doing it for my family, around my family other people's whys will be completely different, I suppose.
one of my measures will be my time. Have I got time to be with my mum? Have I got time to be with my children? Have I got time to have a bit of time with my husband? Like that's for me as much of a measure, if not more sometimes than actually what I'm, you know, being paid. You know, it's that simple to me. So different people have different measures of success and try to stay true to yours rather than fall into the very inevitable trap.
of comparing to others.
Erin Thomas Wong (28:57)
And that's absolutely what the life-friendly business approach is about. So thank you. Thanks so much for joining me today, Katherine.
Katherine Whitby - Baby Steps (29:03)
That's
been absolutely lovely, thank
