Getting Certified, from the Perspective of a Student with Amanda Drapeau

Links: getting certified

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Transcript: getting certified  

Intro: Welcome to Becoming a Sleep Consultant! I’m your host Jayne Havens, a certified sleep consultant and founder of both Snooze Fest by Jayne Havens and Center for Pediatric Sleep Management.

On this podcast, I’ll be discussing the business side of sleep consulting. You’ll have an insider’s view on launching, growing, and even scaling a sleep consulting business. This is not a podcast about sleep training. This is a podcast about business building and entrepreneurship.

Amanda is a recent CPSM graduate and a proud career nanny for over a decade. She has also worked as the program manager for an agency that supports the independence of individuals with disabilities.

There were multiple roads that led Amanda to become a sleep consultant. Her experience as a Child Care Licensing Specialist inspired her passion for educating parents and caregivers on the importance of safe sleep practices. She also witnessed the transformation her nanny family had after working with a sleep consultant. At that point, Amanda had to learn more for herself.

At the time when this interview was recorded, Amanda was still working her way through the course but she has since completed her training and she is officially certified.

Jayne Havens: Amanda, welcome to the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. I’m so happy to have you here today.

Amanda Drapeau: Oh, thank you for having me. I’m happy to be here too.

Jayne Havens: Before we get started, tell us a little bit about yourself, if you’re willing.

Amanda Drapeau: Sure. I am currently living in Maryland — in Olney, Maryland. I got married in July of this last year. So, it’s been a big year for me. I decided pretty soon, after getting married, that I just wanted to make a big change. I found your class and kind of just went for it.

Jayne Havens: What were you doing before that?

Amanda Drapeau: Well, I’ve had a bit of a year with answering that question. Because in January of 2022, I was working as a program manager at an agency that supports people with intellectual disabilities. I left in February to work for the state of Maryland as a childcare licensing specialist. That is a really difficult job emotionally, so I chose to leave after a couple of months and returned to nannying, which I had done for 15 years before. So, I kind of returned to what I knew was going to make me happy and all that. So, I am nannying currently, happily since July.

Jayne Havens: What was it that made you decide that you wanted to become a sleep consultant? What is it about this line of work that spoke to you and that drew you in?

Amanda Drapeau: Sure. There’s a lot of reasons. One is, having worked as a nanny, I see a lot of similarities and the motivation to do sleep consulting, or be a nanny, or really working with families in a lot of different capacities. Because there’s just a really beautiful thing about getting to be a part of somebody’s family and helping them grow as a family and thrive as a family. I see how you can do that as a sleep consultant, especially with sleep. Because that impacts everything. It impacts your mood. It impacts how well you can handle stressful situations with your kids.

As a nanny, I have a lot of experience with working with families who don’t necessarily have a lot of experience with children in general. So, they’ll hire me, I think, partially because it gives them that reassurance that they can look to somebody who has that experience and give them that reassurance, give them that confidence that they’re doing the right thing, or that what they are hoping to get out of the situation with their kids, that they have resources to do that. So, there’s a lot of overlap with the motivation.

But when I was working with the state of Maryland as the licensing specialist, I really found that the hardest part of that job was handling some of the sad things or the really unfortunate things that can happen. Some of that is related to sleep safety. I think I left that job for my own sanity, because that’s just not — a lot of what I had to face every day wasn’t something I really wanted to go home with. But I left that with a passion. I really want to continue being a part of educating parents, educating child care workers on safe sleep and on safety in general.

When finding out that you have this course and that this is a thing I could do, it just seems like all of my experience came together. It was like an aha moment of, “okay, maybe this all happened for a reason. Maybe these experiences happened for a reason. This is why: so that I can put them all together with this.”

Jayne Havens: I love that. You are going through the course right now.

Amanda Drapeau: Yes.

Jayne Havens: Do you have a favorite part of the course, so far? Is there something in particular that you’ve enjoyed the most in your training up until this point?

Amanda Drapeau: I’ve really been enjoying the course in general. I think with having a bit of a bumpy year career wise, I was at sort of a confidence low, leaving the state of Maryland job. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do coming out of that. Then finding this class and getting to throw myself into something that actually really interests me has just been — I feel like I have more energy and more confidence. I’m excited. My poor husband gets to hear all of my thoughts on the class and all of my, “Oh, I could talk to families about this one day and that.” I think the number one thing is I’m just really enjoying the energy it’s giving me.

But also, the first big written assignment, I was a little concerned I wrote too much. But it was because I was really enjoying the process of coming up with options and thinking it through. So, I would say, other than being worried it was too much, I really actually enjoyed going through with writing that assignment.

Jayne Havens: I love that. How are you managing your time? Are you nannying full time, or is that a part-time gig? And if you’re working full time, how are you juggling your work and your studies at the same time?

Amanda Drapeau: Yeah, I am nannying part time. I guess this was just a year of me wanting to take over a lot of things at once. I’m also working part time helping a family member of mine start their own real estate investing business. So, that’s not something I had experience with last year. I started that in September of 2022. And I started your class in December of 2022 just a couple months later. So, I’m doing two part-time jobs doing that.

For managing my time, I will say that has been something I’ve had to work at and hone my skills throughout the years. I think I’ve mentioned this on the Facebook group before. I am definitely, I call, focus-challenged. I do have ADHD. And so, if I’m left with no plan, nothing’s going to get done. I’m going to be distracted. I’ll be all over the place. But over the years, I’ve really figured out a lot of little things I can do to help myself.

Time blocking, I think, has made a huge difference to me. And not just time blocking with specific times, like 9 o’clock I do this. 10 o’clock I do this. What works better for me is, okay, I need to study and do the class for two hours. I need to do this other thing for an hour. I have a meeting for an hour. Instead of deciding exactly what time to do them, I’ll pick where my motivation is and where my focus is, and be like, “Okay. Right now, I’m really feeling doing the class.” So I”ll set a timer for two hours and do the class for two hours. So, I think time blocking and setting alarms is a big one. That’s been a life changer for me.

Jayne Havens: Do you have a goal for when you’d like to be finished with the training?

Amanda Drapeau: My goal has been to finish by the end of this month in February. I am only 50% done with the class, so I don’t know how realistic that goal is. But I’m kind of deciding to stick with that, being my goal to really push it. If I missed it by a little bit, I’ll forgive myself. But I’m going to stick to that goal that I’m going to try to power through the second half.

Jayne Havens: Okay. One thing that I think sets Center for Pediatric Sleep Management apart from other programs is our community. I’m wondering if you’ve made it a point to participate within the community yet, or are you more just lurking and planning to jump in once you finish the program?

Amanda Drapeau: Oh, I have to tell you that is one of — I can already tell. The best parts of being a part of your class is getting that Facebook community. I will say I have participated a little bit in the Facebook group. I plan to do a lot more, but I’ve been trying to focus more on the class.

Recently, you had written that there were some other students or people who have completed the class on the Facebook group that were from my area. And so, a couple of us have already all talked. We want to meet up in person. We’re getting a whole group of people, which you said you would join us, which we’re all really excited to hear. So, I think that’s going to be awesome — getting to meet people who are on the same journey that I’m trying to be on.

We can all support each other, and maybe have the same mindset — that we’re all people trying to start our own businesses or merge this into the businesses we already have. I’m really excited to meet everybody. Because I think it’ll just feel really nice for us to have an in-person community as well. So, I thank you so much for that. Because I see everyone asking questions. People jump so quickly to give advice and share different expertise. I can absolutely see that’s going to be just invaluable for everybody that gets involved. So, I encourage everybody to just jump in and say hi. Message me. I’m happy to talk to anybody.

Jayne Havens: Yeah, I love that you’ve had a positive experience even in a short amount of time within our Facebook community. Because I’m always talking about the Facebook group, that this is our biggest asset of the program. It’s really hard for me as the course creator and the leader of the program to really properly articulate what I see is this huge value that we have inside of our Facebook group.

I always tell prospective students that every single person inside of our community brings something to the table. Some of them, we have pediatricians. We have IBCLCs. We have doulas. We have nannies. We have accountants. That’s helpful, right? We have all sorts of professionals. Then we have all sorts of parents, people who have multiples. We have parents who have nursed their children for extended periods. We have all sorts of expertise inside of our community.

I always say that our community gets better each time somebody enrolls. Because it’s like, “Okay, what are you going to bring? What are you going to bring to this community? What are you going to do for us?” Not just what are we going to do for you, but what are you going to do for us?

As CPSM has grown, I really do think that the level of collaboration and the level of community that we have just keeps increasing and increasing because there are more experts. When I say expert, that could just be somebody who has 10 kids, right? We have a few people who have 10 kids. It’s like, okay, well, they bring an interesting perspective to this conversation.

Amanda Drapeau: Absolutely.

Jayne Havens: What about when you were enrolling in the course or perhaps before you enrolled? Did you have any objections that were keeping you from enrolling? And if so, how did you get past that in your mind?

Amanda Drapeau: Objections? Not so much when having to do with your class or anything. But definitely, reservations about if it was going to end up being worth it for me, and if I could do it — just when we’re self conscious types of things. Can I believe in myself to do this?

It’s funny. Like I said, at the end, when I signed up for the class, it almost felt like, okay, everything that’s happened this year has seem to lead to this to where I feel like I can do it. Because like I said, in September, I started helping a family member start a real estate investing business. I have no background in that. I have no experience in that. But they really wanted me to be a part of it, and I wanted to be a part of it with them. So, I just started deep diving and researching and listening to podcasts 24/7 during the day, every time I’m driving, if I’m cleaning. I’m just trying to gain as much knowledge as possible.

When I found your course and started considering sleep consulting, I had already been in this place where it was like, if I can start believing in myself that I can be successful in this thing I have zero connection with, I’ve got to be able to believe in myself. At least, I have this 15 years of working with children in a bunch of different capacities. So, I’ve got to be able to believe in myself.

I just decided I just am. I’m going to fake it to myself. Even if I’m not actually that confident, I’m just going to tell myself I am, and hopefully just trick myself into believing that. I think that has worked really well. I think, honestly, my husband was a big kicker for it. Because he was pushing me so hard to do this, because he believed in me 1,000% more than me.

I think I told you in our discovery call, our first meeting, that he was threatening to contact you himself and pay for the course because I was being hesitant to make the final push to do it. He did not have to do that. I finally got the courage to just go for it and commit to it. I’m really, really glad that I did. I think him giving me a bit of a safety net, saying, “Well, even if you don’t start your own business, even if it doesn’t go anywhere with that, you can charge more as a nanny.”

I think having that backup plan of, oh, okay, I don’t have to feel the pressure to be successful because it will benefit me automatically. Because I can raise my rates as a nanny without starting my own business at all. But I do want to start my own business, so I am going to go for it and put my all into it. But it’s nice to sort of have that safety net for my ego.

Jayne Havens: Yeah, actually, I tell nannies and postpartum doulas and newborn care specialists all the time that if they take my course, the very first thing they should do is raise their rates. I can’t even tell you how many people inside of our program have done that, and then made a complete return on investment on the price that they paid for the course — without even taking on their first client — just by raising their rates as postpartum doulas. I think that that’s super valuable.

I know that this is something that families want to see when they’re interviewing professionals that are going to be caring for children, especially in their homes. I know that, as a parent myself, if I’m going to hire someone to care for my kids, I want to know that they have the knowledge to implement healthy and independent sleep habits for my children. I think that that’s a top priority for parents nowadays. So, I think you’re really smart to have that attitude.

You’re right. It does help with the ego a little bit. It helps you to just get to a place where you’re not putting so much pressure on yourself to be whatever level of successful that you deem is appropriate, straight out of the gate. You just know that this is one step that you’re taking to further your own career. It’s going to help you, either in the way that you support families, or to get better jobs, or both. That can be enough to get you started. Then when you start taking on clients, it’s sort of the silver lining, right? That’s the bonus.

Amanda Drapeau: Yes.

Jayne Havens: I love that attitude. We have a lot of already sleep consultants, certified sleep consultants, who are listening to this podcast. But then, I think we also have some aspiring sleep consultants listening too. What would you say to those who are thinking about jumping into this field, or maybe even enrolling in CPSM, in particular, but maybe they’re nervous to get in. I feel like a lot of people feel just like you, where they’re nervous to take that chance on themselves. They’re nervous to try new things. That’s really natural, right? What would you say to those people?

Amanda Drapeau: Absolutely. I absolutely was in that boat. I was very self-conscious about making the jump to do this. I was also in a deep analysis paralysis of what to do. Because with my background as a nanny, I was considering maybe doing a nanny agency or going for pediatric nutrition or something. There’s a lot of options out there. But I was so hold into watching your interviews. Especially, you talk about focusing on the business side and focusing on the Facebook group.

I would say, if there are people out there listening that are interested in sleep consulting and are sort of mulling it over, I would say this is the class to take. Obviously, I haven’t taken other ones, but I did a lot of research for months and months before committing to this. You can tell there’s just a big difference between your course and the other ones that I researched.

One, there’s a personal touch that you put in to your course. Being involved with everybody that you’re teaching has finished in the course, which is huge. I think I saw someone mentioned this in regards to sending back assignments, asking people to maybe look it over again and maybe resubmit, make some improvement. As someone was saying, this really proved to me and my husband that you’re not just in it for the money, that you’re in it to help mold really quality sleep consultants, and send us on our way with ongoing support for the rest of our careers, and being set up the best we possibly could.

So, if you’re considering doing this, take this course because you get such a well-rounded community there. It’s very, I think, different than anything I saw being offered by other people, especially with the business side of things but also just that personal touch that I think makes a huge difference. I mean, I don’t think my confidence would be where it’s at in my enjoyment if we didn’t have a community and how much effort was clearly put into the course. So, that’s my advice to them. Come join us.

Jayne Havens: I appreciate you saying that. I do. I really do pour my heart and my soul into this program, and I want every single one of you to be successful. It’s in my best interest to see you guys thrive. The more of you that are out there doing the good work, it’s good for the field. It’s good for CPSM. I love to be able to highlight the success stories and to show off everybody that is really out there supporting families at the highest level and making a really solid career out of it. What could be better than that? I appreciate you saying so.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today. I can’t wait to see you complete the course, hopefully by the end of this month or perhaps early next.

Amanda Drapeau: Fingers crossed.

Jayne Havens: I hope that I can line you up to get back onto the podcast once you start taking clients, and you can share the next little leg of your journey, if you’re willing.

Amanda Drapeau: Absolutely. Thank you.

Outro: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, it would mean so much to me if you would rate, review, and subscribe. When you rate, review, and subscribe, this helps the podcast reach a greater audience. I am so grateful for your support.

If you would like to learn more about how you can become a certified sleep consultant, head over to my Facebook Group, Becoming a Sleep Consultant or to my website thecpsm.com. Thanks so much, and I hope you will tune in for the next episode.