We had the good fortune of connecting with Ame Odom and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Ame, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
How much time do we have? First off you should know, I struggle with “talking too much”, it started at an early age and is one good and sometimes not-so-good characteristic that has continued into adulthood. With that said, I am going to try my best to be concise here!
Initially the thought process started about 3-4 years before the pandemic began. There was and still is, a massive need for quality lactation care in our area. Thinking about the reality of it all, in teaching parents how to feed their babies, how realistic is it to do so in a hospital or doctors office setting? Your home set up, where you will be doing almost all of your feedings is nothing like those places. In home quality lactation care was the obvious solution. I wanted all mamas to have the option to have a great lactation consultant who they connected with personally and who they knew would be there to support them, not for the immediate hospital stay and not just when they traveled to a doctors office appointment, but anytime of the day whenever they were feeling their lowest. This is what is going to change the outcome of breastfeeding success and overall better postpartum maternity care. Once our youngest child started kindergarten, I felt it. It was time to make it happen. Against everything that felt comfortable, I left the company I had been with for almost 18 years to start Cookies and Milk Lactation.
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I would say I am easily set apart from other businesses/practices due to the unique set up of in home services and built in on going support for my patients. What I am most proud of is doing what I love and want to do and having the confidence to make it happen for myself, I am most excited for the patients, the mamas who would otherwise give up or feel unable to find care if I were not available. Was it easy? That is a yes and no answer. It really was easy looking back at all the legal and technical steps necessary. What was not easy was leaving a company that raised me professionally, I left dear friends who became family, even knowing they supported my change, it was still hard to leave. I have learned lessons, boundaries and business experience that I have maintained and some that I have said, “yeah that doesn’t work” and have changed them! I made my own website, that’s definitely not something I thought I could do. I think the world should know that I am a regular girl, not a business person (at all) I am a daughter, wife and mama who is passionate about breastfeeding and wants to make a change in the outcomes of care and if I can start my own practice, you can too.
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?
Oh man, this is going to really make me look boring and nerdy, but here it is. I am a homebody, always have been. I love to eat good food but am happy to go back home and play a game or watch a movie. I love Javier’s in uptown, the salad buffet at Fogo de Chao, and when I am really feeling fancy Ruth’s Chris. These are special places, but I am also happy to swing by Whataburger or Taco Bueno for some quick yummy eats too. I have a group of a few close friends who once every month or so love to have a mom’s night out, we book an Escape Room (Breakout is my favorite) and then go to dinner. My children are still young and so a lot of my time is spent with them, hanging out with friends and playing at home. We love our community in Wylie, it is a small town but we see its growing fast, we moved here in 2021 and have met some of our very best friends here.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My friend and supporter Mary Cantwell who is a pediatric sleep consultant was critical in helping me see, business-wise, experience-wise, I can start and run my own company. She met with me several times to give me honest and valuable advise about the ins and outs of the business stuff. She gave me confidence I needed to take the leap. Secondly my family, my husband, my parents and sister, my cousins, my friends, they gave me the love and support I needed to take the leap. If I had to dedicate my shoutout to anyone though I think it would have to be my children. It was that first journey nursing my oldest daughter, in 2012, that sparked my passion for breastfeeding.
Website: www.cookiesandmilklactation.com
Instagram: @ameodomibclc
Facebook: Cookies and Milk Lactation Services, LLC