Building Confidence and a Thriving Sleep Consulting Business with Jamie Hoff

 

When Jamie first launched her sleep consulting business, things started off slow. She was juggling part-time work and navigating what it meant to grow something of her own.

Fast-forward a year and a half—and she’s now supporting five to eight families every single month, running her business from home, and confidently showing up on social media to connect with her audience. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• What the early days of business really looked like
• When and how she found her confidence
• How social media became one of her biggest tools for growth
• What her business looks like today—and how she envisions growth for the future

If you’ve ever wondered what’s possible with consistency, patience, and a little strategy… this one’s for you.

 

Links:

Website: Rested Results
Instagram: @restedresults

If you would like to learn more about the Becoming a Sleep Consultant, please join our free Facebook Group or check out our CPSM Website.

Book a free discovery call to learn how you can become a Certified Sleep Consultant here.

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Transcript: 

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.

Today’s episode is such a good one. I’m chatting with Jamie, a CPSM grad, who’s been in business for about a year and a half now. When she first got started, things move slowly—which, let’s be honest, is really common—but she’s stuck with it. And now she’s consistently supporting five to eight families a month through her sleep consulting business.

She recently transitioned out of part-time work and is running her business from home. She also happens to be amazing at using social media to connect with her audience, so we definitely dive into what that looks like. We talk about what it was like for her to get started, when she found her confidence, how she’s finding clients, and where she sees things going from here. If you’re in that beginning stage or just need a reminder that growth can take time, but it’s absolutely possible, this episode is going to be so encouraging. Let’s dive in.

Jayne Havens: Jamie, welcome to the Becoming a Sleep Consultant Podcast. I’m so excited to have this conversation with you today.

Jamie Hoff: Thank you. I’m so excited to be here chatting with you today as well.

Jayne Havens: So before we get started, tell us a little bit about you. Tell everyone what your background is and why you decided to become a sleep consultant.

Jamie Hoff: Yes, so I am currently a stay-at-home mom to a very sweet and active little toddler boy. Before I became a sleep consultant—my background doesn’t have any relation to sleep consulting whatsoever—I was previously a day spa and salon manager at a spa and salon that I worked at for about 13 years. I loved it there. But then after I had my son, I realized I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. That kind of really became more clear to me after having him, too. So I decided to look for something that I could do to make money and to make a living from home.

Sleep consulting really sparked something within me after I had done some sleep training with my son. So once I found out that sleep consulting was a thing that actually existed and that it’s something that I could do from home, while helping families and while still being home every day with my son, it was kind of a no-brainer that it was something that I wanted to give a try.

Jayne Havens: Love that. Actually, your story is very similar to mine. I didn’t work in a day spa, but I used to work in catering—for those who were listening and don’t know. And all I ever wanted to be in life was a stay-at-home mom. I was raised by a stay-at-home mom. I wanted to be first in line in carpool. I wanted to have the best snacks and take them to tennis lessons and ballet recitals. I just wanted to be home with my kids.

It sounds like that was sort of your dream too. I really do believe that sleep consulting is sort of the perfect thing to be able to do when you’re home and prioritizing your children but you still want to work and, as I say, use your brain and bring in some money for your family, right?

Tell me what it looked like in the beginning. I think the whole reason for why we decided to record a podcast is because you shared inside of our CPSM Facebook group that it was a little slow for you to get going. It took you a little bit to get your momentum and for you to to figure out your groove. So if you’re willing to share, what did it look like in the beginning, and when did you feel like you started to really gain momentum and start to see regular clients coming your way?

Jamie Hoff: Yes, it was definitely slower at the beginning, which, I mean, part of me kind of expected. There maybe was a part of me that thought, like, “I’m going to launch my business, and all these clients are just going to come running towards me.” It didn’t exactly happen that way.

I launched my business in January of 2024. Right away, I did a pro-bono client. It was one of my old coworkers at the salon. I worked with her six-year-old boy, which terrified me at first. Because I was thinking that I was just going to be helping little babies and not six-year-olds. But it went amazing. She left me a really sweet testimonial afterwards, that then I started plastering everywhere on social media and trying to share that with everyone just to kind of get the word out there.

After that, I went into, like, Facebook groups and things like that to start sharing what I do. I told everyone that I am newer at being a sleep consultant. I just launched my business. I offered 50% off of my packages to the first five moms or dads that would come to me looking for help. And so I got a few clients that way.

In exchange, I would just ask them to leave an honest review after working with me about their experience. That really helped me, I think, to start building a little bit of confidence, to realize that I can do this and I can actually help these families. And just to, like I said, get those testimonials out there so that other families can then, hopefully trust me to help them with their baby’s sleep.

Jayne Havens: When did you feel like it finally started to click, that it wasn’t just you sort of chasing after those families at a discounted rate but really the referrals started coming in? I don’t know what that looks like for you. Was it referrals from past clients, or was it you really sort of building a brand on social media? What was it that really turned the corner for you?

Jamie Hoff: Yes, so referrals actually just now are kind of starting to come into play. It took a little bit for that. But really, at first, it was me really going out there on social media, which I’ve gotten a little bit better at this. But at first, I wasn’t super comfortable with like putting my face out there on social media. I feel like a lot of other sleep consultants, as far as I’ve heard, they feel kind of the same way—at least at first about that.

I went out there and I would use images, not even my own son but like images and videos I would find off of Canva or things like that for free, and just do as much advertising as I could out there—whether that would be sharing tips to get people interested to hopefully follow me and, like I said, just plastering those client wins and testimonials out there for people to see as well.

I would say it was probably about six months in when I started regularly getting, I would say, one or two clients a month, which I was super stoked about. Then it was in the fall, about seven or eight months in, that I had my biggest month. I had three or four clients at that time. I was so happy and so impressed with myself. And ever since then, it’s been kind of steady and also just growing since then. So, yeah, to summarize, it took about six months to really start getting one or two clients consistently, and it’s just grown from there.

Jayne Havens: I think you told me today or yesterday that your busiest month, you’ve had eight families that you’ve supported. Is that right?

Jamie Hoff: Yes, yes, that’s right. Yeah, and it actually went amazing. I remember before when I had maybe like five clients in one month. It depends so much, I feel, on which families you’re supporting, what type of client you’re working with. But those five clients that I had, I was like, “Oh, gosh.” Like I loved it, but it was also super busy.

But then that month that I had, the first month that I had eight clients in one month, I feel like I set my clients up for everything in advance so well with the sleep plan that I didn’t find myself being stressed out, texting them all day like I was kind of maybe more so at the start of when I started getting a little bit busier. So I’ve learned like that, how to make it a little bit easier on myself while still having those really busy months.

Jayne Havens: I love that realization. It’s so amazing that you’ve figured that out because, really, it does position you to support more families at once. If you can front load them in the beginning with all of the necessary information, answer their questions in the beginning, then once it gets going, it’s sort of smooth sailing.

Jamie Hoff: Exactly, yeah. Like I said, I think the first month that I had multiple clients in a month, I always tell my clients, and I still do now, “Update me as much as you’re willing to update me. I want to know all of the wins and maybe anything that isn’t going as smooth as you had hoped it would. I want to know everything.”

But at first, I was checking in every single nap, the start of the nap, at the end of the nap, knowing how exactly every single feed went, every little thing. I realized I don’t need to every second of the day know every single thing that’s going on. I can set them up for success. We can troubleshoot as needed and then go over everything together at the end of the night.

Jayne Havens: I think that that’s a really wonderful realization. It’s good for your long-term success, because I think if you were supporting families that way — and I was too. When I first got started, I was doing the exact same thing as you were in the beginning—checking in at the beginning of nap, checking in at the end of nap, making sure all the feeds were on point. There’s no longevity to that. We have to find a way to support families successfully while maintaining our own sanity and mental health in this work 100%. I’m so glad you figured that out.

Talk to me about where the confidence shift took place, if you can pinpoint it. Because I remember when you first started, I remember you were that sort of timid, nervous—which is really normal and to be expected—brand new entrepreneur. And now when I hear you speak, you’re so confident and you’re so sure of both two things. One, the way that you support families and also the way that you’re running your business. Right? When did that shift happen for you? Was it about the same time when you were getting more regular clients coming your way?

Jamie Hoff: Yes, I would say so. So confidence, like professionally, your confidence with me supporting families I think really started to get better after I had supported a few clients that paid full price. I think the reason for that is because I felt like I was helping them 100%. I knew that I knew what I was doing, and I could get them to where they wanted to be. But it took a few clients to really pay the full price, to give me an amazing review afterwards and really just tell me how much I changed their lives. I think I’m a person that I second guess everything. That’s just the way that I am.

The reviews, first of all, I’m always asking parents to please leave an honest review afterwards. I want that, first of all, to show to other prospective clients and to other families that hopefully they can trust me to help them. But also, it’s something just for me to have, for me to have and to hold, just to feel good and just to remember that what I’m doing is actually so amazing and important and just helping so many families. So, yes, I’d say my confidence really grew in that way when I first got those few testimonials back, and I realized what a difference I was making in their lives.

Then when you say that I was kind of more timid and shy, yes, I definitely am. And I still am very much that way. I feel like people tell me, too, sometimes that, “I don’t know why you’re so shy.” I feel like I have social anxiety whenever it comes to even doing things like this, like coming on a podcast. Like, oh gosh.

Jayne Havens: I know this was a big deal for you. For those listening, I think I asked Jamie three or four times before she actually said yes. I wasn’t letting up. I know this is a big deal for you. But it’s really interesting. Because you say that you’re nervous and timid, but you really do exude a level of confidence. So I don’t know if that’s fake it until you make it, but you’re definitely there. People, I think, can trust in your confidence. It’s clear that you know what you’re doing. You know how to support families and you know how to talk about the work that you do, so you should own that.

Jamie Hoff: Thank you. Yes, definitely.

Jayne Havens: Talk to me about social media. For people who listen to this podcast, I think many who listen to this podcast are already sleep consultants. Some are thinking about getting into the field. Social media is a big hot topic when it comes to growing a business and what that looks like. I am a firm believer that you can grow a very successful consulting business without social media. I’m proof of it. I really don’t use social media much at all. But I also think it’s a really valuable tool. And for some, it comes more easily than others. It sounds like you’ve really used it to your advantage.

I’m wondering if you’d be willing to share a little bit about your process and what it looks like for you to maintain a presence. I know you’re largely on Instagram. What are you doing on Instagram? What does that look like? Share whatever you’re comfortable sharing.

Jamie Hoff: Yes, definitely. So I will say, too, at first, I really had plans to make all these local connections and everything. That’s something that I was so interested in. But then, like I said as well, that’s something for me, it doesn’t come super naturally. I feel like I’m good at doing it, but it doesn’t help the fact that it still just makes me so nervous inside to do those things. So that’s why I really started focusing heavily on social media kind of right from the start.

I focused solely on Instagram. I mean, I have a Facebook page as well. I don’t post on there super often just because Instagram goes so great. I get so many leads from Instagram. I share a lot of content. I try to do one post a week. However, when I first started on Instagram, I felt like I was stressing myself out a little bit of making this perfect post, and I spent so much time doing it. I really found a way to do that quicker and just have really good content and not spend an hour to make one single post. I like to batch create content and do things like that.

For example, every day when my son takes a nap, I will spend like an hour usually during his nap time just to get some work done. Maybe on a Monday, I will go through and I’ll batch five posts for the week so that they’re just ready to go and I can post it whenever.

A lot of those posts, what I’ve found that helps me grow on Instagram is, I will have a call to action. Or I’ll say comment whatever word. Because if you’re on social media, if you’re using social media as a business, at least you should know that when you have more comments and more likes and things like that on your posts, you’re getting more engagement. Then it gets pushed out to more viewers and potential followers. I will have them comment a word to get a freebie sent to them. So that’s kind of how I started doing this. With that, I’ve now grown my email list.

So when they get a freebie sent to them, they get added to my email list. I collect an email from them to get that freebie. I feel like this might not sound like a lot to some people. But to other people, it might sound crazy. We’re all in different areas of business. But I have like thousands of people on my email list, and I feel like that’s something that I’m just so proud of.

Jayne Havens: You should be. You should be very proud of that. Are you willing to share how many thousands? I’m just curious. Like 2,000? 10,000? Either way, it’s amazing.

Jamie Hoff: I’d have to go to look right now. I think I have like 4,300 something. It’s something like that, yeah.

Jayne Havens: That’s incredibly impressive considering that you’ve been in business for, what, a year and a half. Just for reference, for anybody listening who has no idea what that even means, I have probably 5,000 or 6,000 people. I only have an email list for CPSM. I don’t really send emails. Well, I have an email for SnoozeFest. I just don’t really use it. But my CPSM email list is 5,000 or 6,000 people. CPSM has been around since 2019. So just for reference, that’s really impressive. That’s incredible. You should be really proud of yourself.

Jamie Hoff: Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, I feel like I’ve really learned different strategies to use on Instagram to help grow that email list. I think now what I’m kind of focusing on, I grew that email list pretty big, and now I’m just really trying to focus on how I can nurture that email list and turn them. They’re already leads. I know they’re interested in my help. They want help. It’s just kind of how I can prove to them that it’s worth the investment, that I can help them get from point A to point B.

Jayne Havens: I love that. I’m so proud of you. I had no idea that you had an email list until, literally, right now. I love these conversations because I always learn new things about my students and grads. So let’s talk about that for a second. You have an email list. You’re opting people in with a freebie. They’re being nurtured on your email list. Is the main goal to get them to work with you one to one, or do you have a lower price to offer whether it’s group coaching or an online class? Do you have anything like that yet, or is that in the pipeline for the future?

Jamie Hoff: Yeah, so I have a few things. First, I have a Newborn Sleep Shaping Course or class that I created. So I have that. That I aim for like 0 to 13 weeks just because I usually say that I start my program at 14 weeks. So any babies under 14 weeks, I recommend that they do my Newborn Sleep Shaping Class. It’s so incredibly helpful. I’ve got great feedback from clients from it. It was really such a simple thing for me to make. Like I just did this presentation on Canva, and it was amazing. So I have that.

Then I also have my two-week support program. That’s my signature one-on-one coaching program. Then I also have a DIY program as well. And so that’s something. It’s half the price of my two-week support program. Basically, I still do the full sleep assessment with them. I still do customized plans, step-by-step instructions, what they need to do, and I lay that all out for them. Super simple. It’s just there’s no phone call and tech support every day for that.

Instead, I offer them an email correspondence with me just to ask any questions if they have anything that needs to be clarified regarding their plan. I do have actually a sleep training course that I have been working on for longer than I should have been. I should have launched it by now. I kind of put it on pause for a little bit. So I have that as well that I’m wanting to put out there pretty soon.

Right now, what I’m kind of focusing on, like I said, is just getting all of those leads and people onto my email list. So, for example, I just started a new free training that I’m going to be launching, hopefully, within the next couple of days here. So just kind of all those fun little freebies, little tips to share, to help get people onto my email list.

Jayne Havens: People who are listening to this can’t see my face, but I’m literally smiling ear to ear. Just in a year and a half, for you to have accomplished all of this, in my mind, is just extraordinary. I think you should be so proud of yourself. If we think back to the first six months of your business where we started this conversation—how you felt like things were off to a slow start, and you weren’t really sure how to go about all of this—it sounds like you’re figuring it out. It sounds like you’re making it happen.

I’m wondering if you have any ideas, like if you’re a year and a half in, do you have any thoughts on where you might be another year and a half from now? At the three-year mark, what do you anticipate your business might look like? What do you want or hope for your business?

Jamie Hoff: Well, I guess just in terms of business for like profit and things like that, I’ve been meeting my goals or exceeding my goals every time that I set a new business goal—whether that’s just like in profit or in terms of how many families I’ve helped throughout the year. So really just continuing to grow that and just meeting all of my goals.

Also, I think, too, I feel like I don’t — I’ll be honest. I probably work maybe 10 hours a week. I mean, I’m barely even like part time with what I’m doing right now. But I mean, it would be amazing to really get things even more automated so that I’m spending even less time doing all those little things. I think, too, a part of that is once I figure out how to really nurture that email list that I was talking about, then I can kind of ease off on the Instagram a little bit. I feel like I really built my Instagram to be really great. I think that, at some point, I’ll be able to just ease off of that a little bit and put that focus into something else.

Jayne Havens: Yeah, it’s all about building a business that fits into your life. That sounds like it’s exactly what you’re doing.

Jamie Hoff: Yeah.

Jayne Havens: That was 10 hours a week. Good for you. That’s amazing. That’s incredible. I mean, I think you’ve built — I always say it’s really hard to build a full-time business on part-time hours, which I think is what a lot of people sort of dream of. They want a side hustle, but they want it to bring in full-time hustle income. I think that sometimes that’s really hard to do. But it sounds like you’re on your way there, which is incredible.

What advice would you have to share for people who are just getting started, either people who are thinking about getting into this field or people who maybe are in our CPSM community or others that are brand new? What advice can you share—maybe something that you would have loved someone say to you way back when?

Jamie Hoff: Yes. So I think I’ll start by saying, like you said, at the first few months of my journey after I had launched my business, I was definitely in the CPSM Facebook group. I was posting all the time asking for tips on how to get clients. I think just take a breath. You’ll get there. If you are in that phase right now, I have total faith that you’ll get there as long as you just keep staying consistent. Keep showing up. Keep trying to sell. Keep trying to learn and grow in whatever way feels good to you. So whether that is out there making connections with other individuals or if that is just focusing on social media.

Also, don’t be, I guess, afraid to — for example, I started with that pro-bono client and then discounted clients as well. Don’t be afraid to start like that just to kind of gain some momentum. That also built my confidence so much doing that. Then afterwards, also, don’t be afraid to raise your prices after that too. Because I mean, where I started, my full price was so much less than what I’m doing right now.

Once you get your confidence and you realize that — again, I always second guess myself. I think, at first, I was thinking: who’s going to think this is worth the investment? So many parents think that is worth the investment. So many parents. I mean, there’s been a few times that I’ve had a little bit of a waitlist even to work with me. There’s a lot of parents out there that want the support. If you can prove to them that you can help them, they’ll want that.

Then also, if you’re thinking about becoming a sleep consultant, I think if you have, first of all, any interest in baby sleep, of course — obviously, I became super interested in it after getting zero sleep with my son and learning what sleep training really was. That’s kind of how it sparked an interest with me.

But if you are looking for something to do from home, this is really it, if that’s something that resonates with you. I had searched so many different things. I mean, my own little money-making blog, I tried to start one time, and doing different little things like that. It never really worked, and it never felt right. It never felt like I was doing something that I could be proud of. And I feel like sleep consulting, it is something I can be proud of—not just the business, but the fact that I’m helping all these families as well. It just feels amazing. I could go on and on.

Just the fact too that you can set your own rules. It’s your own business to build. If I work 10 hours a week right now, that looks like me working for an hour a day, every day of the week during my son’s nap. Then here and there, I’ll do like an hour after he goes to bed. And if you have more free time than that too, I mean, you can really, really grow your business. You just got to put a little bit of that time into it, whatever fits into your schedule.

Jayne Havens: Making me proud. So proud of you. Congrats on your success. This is just the beginning for you. I know that you’re just getting started. Where can people check out your website, maybe follow you on Instagram and connect with you if they want to seek out support or just learn more from you?

Jamie Hoff: Yes, so my website is restedresults.com. I, again, am primarily on Instagram. It’s @restedresults. If you don’t have Instagram and you’re on Facebook, I’m on there as well. I keep that open just so I can at least reach some families or some people that maybe aren’t on Instagram. That’s at @restedresults as well.

Jayne Havens: Perfect. Jamie, it was so great chatting with you. Thank you for coming on the podcast—even if I had to beg. You did great. And we’ll have to check in a year or so from now.

Jamie Hoff: Yes, that sounds great. Thank you for having me. It was so fun.

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.