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The smart way to create a compassionate and professional lactation private practice, hosted by private practice IBCLCs Annie Frisbie and Leah Jolly.
Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.
Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.
Tune in each week to learn all the ins and outs of running a successful private practice lactation business!
Connect with Leah and Annie:
On Instagram: @lactationbusinesscoaching
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lactationbusinesscoaching
On YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv3-4pMgjlzbXD9KWFCIV3-1LipsTbgsj
Annie: Well, hey Leah, good to talk to you. How are you?
Leah: I'm doing good. Hey Annie. How have you been this week?
Annie: Been busy. Got a bunch of frenotomy clients that I've been walking through the journey with, and they're all in various stages. Thankfully some of them are doing really well. I had a teeny tiny baby who was only 4 pounds, 11 ounces at birth and she is gaining so well and she's so beautiful and...
Leah: I love that.
Annie: She looks like a bigger baby than she actually is. She's amazing. I just love spending time with them. Then I had another family...
Leah: I love those great outcomes.
Annie: It's the best. It's why we do it, you know? And I had another family also frenotomy where we've been working on the body work and working on getting her baby loosened up because he's just so tight. We finally got him loose enough through body work and just the exercises I was giving them to do at home where we can really see it's a very clear tie, would be really easy for the preferred provider to treat, and the mom is struggling with postpartum depression from a traumatic birth. So she's just said, I read what the aftercare is and I don't think I can handle it and I don't want to do it. And it's kind of a place where I totally get what she means and I'm actually worried about her wellness, and as much as I can take a step back and see how good this would be for the family why I'm recommending that they have the tongue tie procedure done or at least see the specialist. You know, it’s always so complicated.
Leah: You have gotta look at the whole picture. I know. And if we don't have kind of all angles addressed, is it still worth it to just move forward with it and not have that aftercare or be another traumatic experience for the family on an already shaky ground. It's great that they have you to lean on and to process through that and kind of helping them step through that. I'm sure that's super hard on you to say, Oh, I know that this could be helpful, but I also have to consider the full picture. That's a really challenging case.
Annie: Well, and even just getting to tell you about is super helpful because being in private practice, it's isolating and it's hard and sometimes you're carrying this stuff inside you that you're dealing with with your clients, and it's kind of a good segue to what our topic today is about.
Leah: Absolutely!
Annie: Which is about keeping your skills up to date in private practice, especially when you're a solo practitioner, it can be challenging. So today our topic is we are going to talk about ways we can boost our skills and stay up to date so that we're providing top notch care even when we're the only lactation consultant in our own practices, which is most of us or many of us. I know you're in a group practice, but I'm a solo provider, solo practice. So before we get into the topic for today though, I know Leah, you've been cooking up a marketing tip for us.
Leah: Yes ma'am. So I recognize that marketing might not be the funnest thing for most people. I love it, but I know everybody doesn't love marketing or the thought process that you think about with marketing is very salesy. You don't want to sound pushy, that kind of thing. But one important aspect of marketing in a business perspective is to really have a plan to it so you get consistent exposure into your marketplace, and that's not going to happen on a 'Oh, today I feel like marketing', especially if you have an avoidance to it because it's just not your forte. So I really encourage you to create plan for your marketing strategy. There's so many avenues you can take and I love the resources that you can find like with the Small Business Administration. They have different trainings and things, or even just getting some simple marketing books. You can look at the different avenues and coming up with a plan that you can have a strategy to what you're going to do for marketing in your area, and then be consistent with your plan. But I definitely think you need to plan or you won't make it happen and then you won't see the growth that you're really hoping for for your private practice.
Annie: Yeah, I love a good plan and I also can find it challenging to come up with a plan when I don't have one already. But you're absolutely right. Anytime I put effort into my marketing, I've seen it pay off in not just like increased calls, which obviously is what we want. We want to expand our client base, but even just in my own confidence in myself and just feeling like, yeah, okay, I can do this. I do know what I'm doing. I can tell people, I can tell myself.
Leah: Yeah, and when you do these things that are more "business-like", it makes you really take ownership of the fact that you are running a business, and to sit down and have a marketing plan, a budget, a financial plan, all these different aspects that any traditional business would have. It really helps you to be an owner and take ownership, and the more that you take yourself seriously, the more your market is going to take you seriously, and you're going to stand out amongst those who might just be like, Hey, I think I'm going to start a private practice today.
Annie: Totally. And all of that is good for breastfeeding rates in general. Everybody else has to raise their game. All of a sudden we're all providing great care for families, and then more families want to breastfeed and now there's even more people who want our services. So there's every reason to get out there and tell the world what your skills are and what you have to offer.
Leah: Yup, absolutely. So let's start in on some of our main topic today, which is about the isolating nature of solo private practice and how that might inhibit you expanding your skillset as you move forward. And I really think there's probably some pros and cons to being in solo private practice. I know some friends of mine work in a hospital setting and they're very driven. They have protocols for this, protocols for that, things they can say, things they can't say and they do one-on-one consults with outpatient care, but it's very hard for them because they're driven by these already set up protocols they have to follow. So in some ways private practice gives you this open book. You can make it whatever you think it should be. You really have a lot more freedom, but that probably also comes with some cons as well because...
Annie: When you describe that hospital setting, everything in me goes, I would never be able to handle that. I've always wanted to do my own thing. I really like just creating my own way of doing things and I don't really like having to do things other peoples' way, and that's a limitation that I have for sure, and it's not better to be one way or the other. I think that being somebody who knows how to work within a system and change it from the inside, that's an amazing skill to have and to be able to build something on an institutional level. Those are skills I don't have. It's not a passion of mine. I just want to be out there and make my own decisions and that's good for me on a personal level. It's my style, but I know I can definitely get locked into my own way of doing things. I don't have the benefit of being able to bounce ideas off of other people. I don't have colleagues, I don't have... It would be good to have those protocols that you then have to contend with, and they can make you sharper even.
Leah: Yeah, I was just thinking as you were saying that that those protocols, especially for IBCLCs who are starting out fresh and they haven't had a lot of exposure to different scenarios, those can be great guideposts. And I think when I bring consultants on into my practice, you know I might share my protocols them and then they might from there develop their own strategies and protocols, but I think they can be really helpful. But there is such an isolating nature to what we do because I think it could almost stunt our growth as practitioners if we're not really seeking out growing your skill set, cause you can just think in your own isolated little world like, I'm a rock star, I'm doing everything I should be doing, and you don't really know what the rest of the world is doing unless you put your feet in the pool and join everybody else and really say, okay, I'm going to get out there and learn new things, new skills, expand my forte of issues that I'm an expert in. Those kinds of things I think can maybe not happen if you don't really seek it out as a private practice.
Leah: Definitely. And for someone like me where I do feel I do have this individualistic streak or tendency, sometimes seeking out new information can be scary, you know? I have to be real with the fact that a lot of times I don't want to be challenged. I don't want to find out that I've been wrong, and maybe wrong is the wrong word here, but...
Annie: Definitely not wrong, but you don't know what you don't know until you go out there and find out what you don't know, and then you're like, Whoa, okay, well I've been doing that differently and I could add some new skills now.
Leah: Growth is scary.
Annie: It really is.
Annie: And I think that it's behind when you're moving forward and so it can be really easy when you're a solo practitioner just doing your own thing to just stay with what you know and stay with what works, and keep saying things the same way. Just recently I was at a conference and ended up staying in a AirBnB with four other lactation consultants, and of course we stayed up all night long talking about our different clinical things that we saw and, and I got as much out of that as I did out of the conference. I get to do that. It was amazing.
Leah: Yeah, and it's so neat because I think all lactation consultants in private practice, you develop your own kind of approaches and methods and ways to explain things, and I think it's just so valuable to share, even if it's just talking through a case and then bouncing that off of a peer mentor. So I think one of the main strategies that we can do as private practice is to find a peer group or a mentor that you can come to with more challenging cases or they're going to come to you with challenging cases and I think there's just such power in sharing how you approach something and then letting somebody kind of give you feedback. Oh well I might've done this or have you thought about that? I think your learning just goes through the roof when you have that experience, and like you, I love conferences for the content, but so much more for getting to talk shop with other LCs. It's my favorite and also why I love this podcast.
Annie: Yes, I know. It's so much fun and fun is a strange word to use when we're talking about working with people in very dark moments in their life, but the puzzles that we have to solve, the different strategies we come up with. I hear somebody word things in a way I've never heard before and all of a sudden I integrate that into how I talk about things and that's where you do kind of get the real power and pleasure of being on your own and not within an institutional setting is because I am free. I don't have anybody telling me don't talk about tongue tie. I think that's the biggest thing that those of us in private practice hear about the challenges of working in hospitals. They're not allowed to talk about tongue tie and I am and I'm allowed to refer to the provider that I want to refer to, and I picked this provider because I know he does it. He does these tongue tie procedures for wellness reasons, not because the insurance will pay for it. And there's just so many things I love about that, and then when I can bring that back to a group of lactation consultants, other people, my colleagues and say, I went through this and then they say, Oh I had something similar, and it's just like we tell the families we work with, go find other people and tell them what you're going through and then you'll know you are not alone.
Leah: So I think there's a lot of different ways that IBCLCs, especially ones that have just started out in private practice and they don't really have a clan yet. Some ways that we can get connected. So I know I got connected of course, through Facebook. I think that's a huge one. There's so many great groups on Facebook, but I think there's real value in having somebody local that you can sit face to face or phone conversation. I mean, there's just something more than reading about it on a Facebook group, although I think those are really great, especially for some lactation consultants in private practice are in very isolated areas where they are the only LC, so they might really benefit from tapping in to some of the online resources for connecting with your peers. But you can definitely find lots of very skilled IBCLCs that want to mentor other IBCLCs. I've reached out to so many "famous" or big name IBCLCs when I was struck with some tough cases and there's so happy to talk to you, so willing and so I think it's important to not only look for Facebook groups but maybe also local. How have you connected, because I know I'm in groups right now, so we talk shop all the time? We call each other as we leaving a hard case and we're like, okay, I've got it to just hash this out with you right this minute. But what are some ways that you Annie have connected in your area? Because I know you definitely have a high number of IBCLCs in your area.
Annie: Yeah, and I'm very fortunate that I have amazing lactation consultants that I can call my local colleagues and the hilarious thing is I don't see them in person. I only see them at conferences outside of New York City, and I've actually tried to successfully get together for lunch or breakfast with local colleagues and it's hard though, because to do that means I have to give up a client slot.
Leah: Yes. It's definitely challenging.
Annie: And so does the other person. We both have to decide instead of seeing a client, I'm going to talk with you and that kind of gets into, I guess, like a question of budget and I have a tendency to look at my time as being every hour I have for work should be for clients. I think it's better to say like 90% of your work time should be for clients, and maybe that's the wrong number, but you know what I'm saying? There is a certain portion that you can say, I am working, I'm networking, I'm collaborating, I'm meeting somebody, I'm learning.
Leah: And those things are so, so valuable to the longevity of your private practice.
Annie: Absolutely. So having a singular focus on, ah, I could see a client during this time, but instead I'm having breakfast and it can feel so luxurious and it can feel like you're cheating.
Leah: Yes, I just skipped school today.
Annie: That's so not what it is. It's like I'm investing in my career. I'm investing in my continuing education and I'm investing back in the profession, and that's good for everyone too. I would also like to kind of kick it out there too, that I do see on these Facebook groups, there are a lot of people who are saying things like, I've tried to find somebody to talk to. I've asked and I can't get anywhere and are feeling like they're shut out. And some of these people are either they're already lactation consultants or they're trying to become IBCLCs. We often hear this from lactation consultants of color that they're feeling left out of the community and so I would like to issue a challenge to everyone out there at whatever level you're at, be the person who gives the help. Just be that person
Leah: I just had this visual when you said that of just joining hands, all the IBCLCs. If we all just joined hands, what a force of power and impact we could have if each person took a chance, a moment to help another, grab their hand, help them along. We could really be so powerful and professional because we do have real challenges that we're facing. We have multinational corporations that don't want families breastfeeding. We've got actual legitimate enemies, and so the more we can collaborate. So if you've got someone in your community or someone you're interacting with online who's saying, I'm trying to get help from other lactation consultants and it's not happening, just say, okay, what can I do? I'm here. I hear you and I understand and I believe you are really powerful things. And let's just assume that all these people that are saying it's hard to find connection and collaboration are telling the truth because they are. And so let's just start by believing them and then changing ourselves. We all have something to give and so give it. It feels great.
Leah: Yeah, I think so. I really think that's so powerful and it really just struck a chord with me too because I've definitely had opportunities and I tried to take them whenever I can to mentor or help another person who's seeking to become an IBCLC or wants to grow their skills. I would join your call out to all those out there listening to this podcast to just take a minute, help another along, and keep us growing. I mean, this is really how we grow and get more skills. So aside from connecting, which is so important, and you said that you do a lot of your connecting through conferences. What are some of the conferences that you found the most valuable for your practice?
Annie: Well, a big popular one for those of us in private practice is of course LC in PP, which is in Philly every spring. It's coming up in March.
Leah: It's my favourite!
Annie: It's where Leah and I met in person for the first time, and it's great. It's for us. So you're not going to be hearing anything that has to do with hospital work or policy or public health, all those things that are awesome and amazing. But this is really about you are a lactation consultant in private practice and boy, this is hard. So that's one where I feel like I've grown the most. It's been a place where I've been able to deepen relationship with the people that I do lean on. They're the people who when things are hard, I text them and they text me back and they get me through it, and then I also went to the IBCLC master class, which was exhausting and...
Leah: That is an intense what, four days, right?
Annie: Oh my goodness.
Leah: Very very intense. I have taken that one two times because you really cannot get it all. I don't feel like I could absorb all that information in the first go round. I was like, I need it one more time just to really solidify this information in my mind because it was really, really valuable to enhancing hands on skills, other tools. I really liked that master class.
Annie: Yeah, and the hands on piece and so going there that I was staying with these four other people and we were decompressing afterwards and actually spending some time, some of it was just social because after 13 hours of training, I just want to talk about something else. Since then, we've been messaging with each other and saying, oh I saw this today and it reminded me of the masterclass or what do you think about this? And going like specifically to those people who I personally connected with, and I don't know, it's very funny because the whole conference thing can be really stressful if you are not an extrovert. And I know that a lot of people are tired of the introvert extrovert thing and it is real.
Leah: It's so true though. I know introverts in my life and they're exhausted from too much contact. So a conference which is super high intensity all day contact, you really have to have that decompression time or you might not even get the full benefit from the conference cause it's just overloading the system.
Annie: And I think that you also need to make sure you're stepping outside of what's comfortable for you, whatever role you find yourself in, so if you're naturally introverted, you may need to say hi to the person next to you and say you could just be the one to ask the question. What did you think about what they just said? Start a conversation and if you're a naturally extroverted person where you can always find somebody to talk to, look for the people who don't seem like they have anybody to talk to.
Leah: Yeah, they don't seem comfortable.
Annie: Yes, bring them in. Invite them in. I'm in the middle because I actually find groups kind of terrifying and I'm always like, I need to have my people that I sit with. I need to have my place because I'm a little socially anxious. I'm like the seventh grader in the lunch room.
Leah: I think secretly though, Annie, I'd say I pretty much think we're all like that still. I think every woman who's ever made it through seventh and eighth grade, maybe all the guys too, I don't know. I can't speak for them, but I'm pretty sure we're all secretly inside thinking those exact same thoughts. But it is so valuable to not just go to the conference for the class and the content, but making those connections, talking through the material with the other attendees that is super, super valuable for solidifying and really getting the full benefit of conferences. Are there any others that maybe you're looking forward to going to or have found? I know I went to one of the tongue tie conferences, the IATP conference and that one was really, really interesting. I got a lot of information out of it, although it was geared towards many different clinicians, so it was a little intense when they got into dentistry and Oh my gosh, I had no idea how intense dentistry could be, but it really was so fascinating to see our tiny sliver or piece that fits into that. It was really, really fascinating to sit alongside those dentists and to know I'm having impacts in this different part of medicine from the role that I'm playing in these families’' lives. That was really interesting and I also like USLCA. I've never been to Elka, but I would assume it's very similar. But the USLCA that I went to, I really liked because it had a really broad scope of different things or different types of classes. So everything from maybe something that'd be towards more clinical or more private practice, just a hospital-based to public policy. I mean it was just like all over the place so you could really find sign up for classes that felt like they were going to be very valuable to you and you had just all different kinds of people.
Annie: It feels good to be around such a large group of people and especially if they're international that have the same values that you do, and believe the same things that you do about the importance of what we feed babies and respecting babies and believing babies are awesome and that the diet is complicated and fascinating and that there's always more to learn. I actually would love to go to one of those international conferences, but it is a life goal to actually go to a meeting of our local breastfeeding coalition here in New York State. I've never been able to go. They have these all day. They get amazing speakers to come. Everybody goes and they've always been on bad days for me and I am always in kind of a difficult situation. It's hard for me to get away cause I home-school my kids and my husband cannot take off work to take the kids because he works in film production, so there is no...
Leah: He's not going to film today.
Annie: He doesn't work, he doesn't get paid, and so they've all fallen on days where it was just virtually impossible for me to carve out an entire day. I can't afford the childcare for the whole day. My kids are still young enough that they need a person there. They have activities. That's the biggest thing. If I go to a conference all day, who's going to take them to all their activities?
Leah: I know. Who's going to be the taxi driver today?
Annie: But for me, when I went to my first LC in PP, it was actually a big deal. It was the first time I'd really been away from my family and I had to put all these things into place and I had six people helping me, but it was so worth it. It was so much work, but it was so worth it that I was like, I have to do this again and I have not been prioritized again, because I love the online conferences. If I can fit those in, I do all of them. You'll see me at every goal they have, I do. I do the gold special ones. I do the gold perinatal, which is all the stuff for midwives that isn't even for me.
Leah: You do it anyway. I know the lactation. Yes. I mean those are great alternatives. The webinars and the conferences that are online for those. One, I mean it's expensive to go to conferences. That's the other thing. You've got to have travel and accommodations and food and it can get really, really pricey. So there is huge value in those online resources and now they've even taken it to where you can even do the community building in those online types of environments too. So I really appreciate that they know that that's kind of one of the perks of going and being in person is that you get this community building and getting to talk shop with others, but they've even, I know gold has those avenues for communication and kind of getting to chat and everything.
Annie: I think they do a really good job with that aspect of it. Just using chat and using message boards to keep the conversation going.
Leah: Yeah, I just did their tongue tie. The gold tie one.
Annie: I did that one too.
Leah: Did you? I really liked it. I thought it was great. Sometimes, you know you're getting similar information but hearing it in different ways, it just solidifies and makes more connections in my mind. I've really enjoyed that. I think another way, if you wanted more, you know, face to face, hands on is asking other LCS or maybe different types of providers to do shadowing as another way to boost your skills, because you can get kind of stuck in a rut of the way you do what you do, and to see another person go through an entire consult is awesome because their workflow is so nice. One of the girls that works with me, Heather, she's amazing and she has this awesome ability to, I call it stealth charting. She's one of those that charts and can get her whole chart and practically her whole report and care plan all done in the visit, and I love watching her because she kind of triggers my brain to think, Oh, that was the moment that she was getting some info down and she has her little system, and so I love watching her in visits because I'm trying to absorb her ways. I'm like, teach me your ways.
Annie: Another example of where you're going to have to give up your own time, if they are seeing a client you're going to follow along and watch someone else see a client, and I think you really are never too far along in your career or so experienced that you can't learn from someone else who's got skills that you don't have, and it feels good to be able to see either that, Oh, they do it the way I do it. Now you're validated.
Leah: Confirmation, yeah.
Annie: Or Oh, I never thought of doing it that way. So I really recommend just giving your time, your in-person time because yes, you can fit in an online conference. You know, I'm an odd auditory learner. I can listen while I'm making dinner and I really absorb a lot of information that way. Or I can listen in the car and I can sneak that into my unfilled pockets of time. What I can't sneak into unfilled pockets of time are the things that are most valuable, which is connecting in person with other lactation consultants or having a phone call. So for those of you who are in more isolated areas where you don't have access to people, Leah has got in a group practice, so she's got other people that she can talk to, and I'm in this busy urban area where theoretically I could have breakfast with other lactation consultants, but other people are not. You might have to go 100 miles before you bump into another lactation consultant. But there is this thing called the phone that back when I was younger and we all went away to college and I used to call my friends from high school and talk on the phone for hours.
Leah: Yes, isn't that amazing?
Annie: I know. Now I'm like never call me. So I know. But you know what? When you do talk with somebody and you give yourself space and time to do it and you say, I'm actually doing this as an activity. I am spending time with you as opposed to just the quick texts, like I have a question. I'm sneaking it in. But you're saying, you know what, I'm not just giving you information or telling you what I know. I'm actually giving you my presence and my time and I want to let this kind of develop and not just be this quick thing. I know what I want from you and you're able to give it to me. But more like what happens when we just sit and spend time together.
Leah: Yeah, and really cultivate those relationships. And don't forget the power of FaceTime and zoom meeting and things like that because sometimes you need to see the person's hands and how they're describing something, or different things that they might be doing in person. So if you can't get in person with somebody, that's another avenue to still get that face to face or see how somebody is describing something or showing you something, that's another avenue as well. So I think we've really hit some great examples of ways that the private practice LC can still be growing and developing their skills even if we're isolated, even if we're all alone, and I really think this is such an important topic. I'm so glad that we covered this today. And I know Annie, before we wrap up completely, you have a tech tip. What have you got for us this week?
Annie: I do, and I decided to think about something that was connected to what we were saying. So you go to conferences and you get all these handouts or you do the online conferences and they want you to download the handout and the bibliography and everything. So my methodology, this is mostly for the online conferences. When I sign up for the online conference at the very beginning of each lecture, I immediately download all the handouts they want me to get. While they're doing the part where they're like, I have my disclosures or no debate, like whatever that part is before they start the slides, they always are saying stuff that is like don't really need to get my full attention to it. So I download the handouts and then I immediately put them into Evernote, which is my favorite PDF organizer app. So you know you've got Google Drive and you've got Dropbox, then you've got these other solutions where you can store documents, but the reason I love Evernote for conference PDFs is because in the layout, when I'm actually looking at them, I'm seeing what it looks like. Like the visual of them, so it's not just the document name or like that little picture where you have to squint to be able to see it. I click on it, it's big enough that my tired eyes can see it and I can actually remember, Oh right. That was that slide, or I think that slide I was thinking of is in this one. I can quickly scroll through it. I'm not having to download it and open it and forth. It's just very visual. There's a reason why Evernote is super popular for recipes. It's the same thing or knitting patterns. Anything where there's a visual component to this document that I'm looking at. It's not just about the words in the document and I really find that to be true about conference handouts and then you can put tags on it and it's also searchable. So I always make sure that I download it. The title is like gibberish so I upload into Evernote and it immediately changed the title to the title of the presentation and the name of the presenter. Sometimes I'll put some tags on it, but sometimes I forget to put the tags. I am not that consistent with my tags, but at the very least I'd be like, I know I heard something at Gold at some point. I don't even remember when it was about meconium, which was actually one of the best online sessions I ever heard was 30 minutes on the meconium. Fascinating, I'm telling you. It changed my life, so yeah.
Leah: Wow. Meconium changed your life.
Annie: It's in my Evernote somewhere. So Evernote. I love it.
Leah: I've never used Evernote. I think one time I tried because everybody was like, Oh so, so amazing. But now you've really triggered me to maybe want to go look into this cause this is an area, all my conference notes are in 100 different places. One time I tried, and gosh I can't even think of the name of it at this exact moment, but where you can write on the documents. You can download the PDF and then you can write on it, because I got the fancy Apple pen and I thought, Oh I'm going to write notes and that was kind of interesting because I am a writer so I do like to write things down, but it still was not very disorganized. I think this Evernote is...
Annie: Evernote now you can do annotations and you can actually put your own notes at the top. I did it at the masterclass. Actually not at the master class cause they don't give you the PDFs. The whole thing is done, but LC in PP, they give you the handouts in advance. So I put it into Evernote and then I was able to, that's where I was typing my notes and I'm a typer, not a long hand person for notes. I am not paperless for everything despite we might have heard, but then it's got the note right there with the PDF and that links it all together. I'm not having to look into different places and I actually do go back and refer to them. Oh that's awesome. Find them.
Leah: Yes. That's the key. I know somewhere on some file on my computer, there's some notes from LC in PP 2018 but yeah, I'm not quite sure where they are. I have to do some digging and get them loaded up into Evernote. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for that tech tip and every week I so value your tech tips because I think I learned so much and I'm going to have new things to work on. So as we close out, what do you have coming up the next little bit?
Annie: Oh my God. I have to get my car inspected. Giving up client time for something.
Leah: Oh man, that is not one thing that you want to give up client time for.
Annie: No, I know. At least I'm not the one that has to take it in.
Leah: It still is so just hard to find time when we're always trying to find time. I know. I sadly had a car accident about a month ago and finally found out they totalled my car so I literally have to buy a car by Tuesday, Annie. I don't even know how that is going to happen, but somehow between now and Tuesday I will be the proud owner of a new car.
Annie: I hope you are going to get something fancy like a Maserati or a Trans Am and then [inaudible;] to our podcast.
Leah: Right. I tried so hard to convince my husband that I needed something like that, but practical is probably more in line with Houston. Houston is really, really, really spread out. There's some funny meme out there like you can put a whole state, whichever the tiny state is all in Houston or something. It's so crazy. And so I drive so much and so I have to think really, really practical.
Annie: It has got to be kind of comfortable too.
Leah: Yes, but it sucks though because the cars that I like the way they look are totally not practical on gas mileage and I'm totally bummed about that and I keep bringing it up. I'm like, but...but... it looks so nice and my husband's like, no, you will spend all your money on gas and that's not going to help anything so...
Annie: Get a Subaru. I love my Subaru.
Leah: Oh really?
Annie: I'm such a cliché. I'm the lactation consultant in the Subaru wearing Birkenstocks and I'm on my way to pick up my CSA to bring it to my home-schooled children.
Leah: So awesome.
Annie: I love my Subaru. It gives amazing highway mileage by the way.
Leah: My car that wrecked was a Toyota Highlander and it was a hybrid, so it got really good gas mileage. So I'm thinking like we researched so much and worked so hard to pick that car out that I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with the same car, may be a slightly newer model, but I think that's what we're going to end cause I don't have the time to go research anything right now and certainly not in a few days.
Annie: So anyway, good luck. I hope it goes really well for you.
Leah: And I hope you get your car inspected.
Annie: Thank you. Well, it was so good to talk to you as always, and I really look forward to our next chat, so.
Leah: Absolutely, absolutely. It's been great chatting, Annie, and I'll talk to you again soon.
Annie: Talk to you Leah. Bye.
Leah: Bye.