Meet Shelby Tolar | Childbirth Educator and Founder of Love to Mama Postpartum Workshop

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shelby Tolar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shelby, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
After teaching childbirth classes for two years, I saw the need for more postpartum support. We have a reunion about 6 weeks after the last baby in the class is born, and when we went around sharing birth stories and struggles, postpartum resources were a constant disconnect! I wished there was something I could have done sooner, and so between that and my own postpartum journey, this dream of a “Postpartum Workshop” started blooming. How could I connect expecting/new parents to the amazing DFW community in one step? Have them all in one place at one time! Key speakers, breakout sessions, resources folders and above all, a super amazing, supportive and educational environment where walls could come down and hope/redemption could flow!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am a childbirth educator and now founder/creator of Love to Mama Postpartum Workshop! I began my certifications in the birth world at 5 weeks postpartum & started teaching my first class at 5 months postpartum in 2020! After my redemptive VBAC, I felt healed in a lot of ways and knew that I wanted to help others advocate for themselves, I believed in birth & myself again and so I called up our personal childbirth educator that we used in 2017 when we were pregnant with our first! She helped get me all set up and started with all the pre-reqs and I’m so thankful for how simple she made that process since I was nursing a new babe at the time! It was definitely more extensive than I was prepared for, but I quickly found that I was a great student as long as it was something I truly had a passion for! My brand “Love to Mama” has a lot of meaning- I LOVE being a Mama, but I also know it’s a hard job and so then there’s the flip side, Love TO Mama. Mama needs some love. It has a double meaning but I love it and what it all represents to me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Honestly I am a pretty simple chick and love my hometown, so I would take them down the street to Main Street Grapevine and we would dine at Hotel Vin and enjoy their gorgeous space and live music! Walking down Main Street and popping into the shops and grabbing a Pinch of Salt brownie from the farmers market is my absolute favorite! If we really want to live it up, we’d visit one of the winerys and maybe a show at the theater. It’s the best place with the best people!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Honestly, I would choose my amazing midwife Michele for this. She unknowingly changed my life almost 3.5 years before any of this started. I met her when my husband and I were trying to have our first baby. I interviewed with her at the birth center thinking we’d be pregnant in the next month or so, and 13 months later, I walked in for my first sonogram and she hugged me like I was family. Through an extremely stressful pregnancy and an even more difficult birth, she walked beside me through everything and kept us under her wing until we were ready to fly on our own. We stayed in touch over the next 2 years on and off until I got to start care with her again with our second baby! She rallied for my VBAC as much, if not more than I did, and was the emotional and mental rock I needed when we faced a few big hurdles early on in pregnancy. She was a constant prayer warrior for us and followed Jesus in every decision we had to make. Finally after more stress, hurdles and a baby who stayed 11 extra days, I achieved a redemptive VBAC during the prime of a global pandemic. It was not how I pictured it, but it was perfect and she gave me complete confidence every step of the way. 5 weeks after that birth, I knew I needed to be working in the birth world and so I began the start of my childbirth certification process and at 5 months postpartum, it was her birth center she invited me to teach my classes in. I had no idea that the beautiful blue eyed blonde midwife I met with would actually become someone who believed in me long before I believed in myself. We have grieved and celebrated together- in our own lives and in our careers together. She is an incredibly special and anointed person to answer the call of being a midwife and I am beyond blessed to now also call her a very dear friend.

Website: lovetomama.com

Instagram: love.to.mama

Image Credits
all image credits go to Alyssa Cates (@alyssacatesstudio)