Kelly Duggan: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Love What You Do podcast. I'm Kelly Dugan, former HR executive turned career coach, and I'm here each episode sharing stories and strategies to help you find a career you love. All right, welcome back to the podcast everyone.
I am so excited to have Lauren Horowitz here with us today. Lauren is an international board certified lactation consultant. She was actually my lactation consultant. So I am so excited to share you with the world and not only to talk a lot about mom's journeys with breastfeeding and going back to work and all of what that means, but also about your career journey of becoming an I-B-C-L-C.
So I'm gonna hand it over to you, Lauren, just to kind of take you, take us through what your career Jo Journey has been up to this point.
Lauren Horowitz: Amazing. Thank you so much for having me, Kelly. I am happy to be on the podcast and talk to anyone that's willing to listen [00:01:00] about how awesome it is to help other moms being an I-B-C-L-C. So, uh, like you said, my name is Lauren Horowitz. I am a pediatric nurse practitioner also. So first, before I got my certification to be a lactation consultant or an I-B-C-L-C-I.
Was and am currently a pediatric nurse practitioner. So I kind of, I've had a really interesting career path actually, because I've made a few turns all in this, a similar in the medical realm,
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: a few turns. So I, I actually started my professional career as an enter in entertainment at Disney World. I don't even know if you knew that about
Kelly Duggan: I had no idea about that. That is amazing.
Lauren Horowitz: Yes. So I was a dancer in the parades, and that was like a childhood dream come true.
Kelly Duggan: Oh my gosh.
Lauren Horowitz: always a job, not a career, but after college, that's what I did. Um, and
Kelly Duggan: What an amazing, fun job to start with though.
Lauren Horowitz: my fun fact.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah. Yeah. That's the two. [00:02:00] True and lie.
Lauren Horowitz: it's also not, yeah. It's a good one. Um, it's also not really a, uh, it was. Not a career, it
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: a job.
Kelly Duggan: Yep.
Lauren Horowitz: was always, it was always like that for me. Like that was the plan. Um, had to go do it, did it, don't regret it. It makes me who I am. Um, then I went to nursing school and I became a pediatric ICU nurse. So I was a pediatric ICU nurse in the city, in New York City from, I don't know where you're listening from, but New York City, um, at NYU in their, in their picu. I was there for seven years and loved it every single day. The life of a nurse is the best thing. Well, it's, it's very, very, very hard, but it is very rewarding. And if you love what you do, um, obviously work is not as worky.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: I, while I was working as a nurse, I went back to school at NYU to get my degree, my [00:03:00] master's to be a nurse practitioner. So my whole specialty, everything I've ever learned. Is just peds. Um, I guess in nursing school you learn everything. But then I went back for my master's just in peds. So I'm a now a pediatric nurse practitioner, which is an advanced practice provider, so I can practice similarly to your pediatrician. Um, my next career move was into a primary care practice and outpatient practice, I made that move. Once I had my first baby, as you, you deal with most new moms, it was time for the career move because a, I as a new mom did not wanna make the commute from Connecticut where I currently live into the city
Kelly Duggan: That's fair.
Lauren Horowitz: very long 12 hour days. and also the
Kelly Duggan: How long were you away from your house, like to commute into the city? Work a 12 hour shift and come back?
Lauren Horowitz: yeah. Um. When I was still pregnant, I was [00:04:00] commuting and I would leave at, like, the shift started at seven. So I'd leave at like 5:40 AM and come back. The shift ended at 7:30 PM but sometimes, you know, you, you can't just leave.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: so, you know, sometimes seven 30, if I was lucky, sometimes eight, sometimes a little bit later, and then an hour. 15 homes, so sometimes 9:30 PM
Kelly Duggan: Wow.
Lauren Horowitz: but then I get three or four days off a week. So it's, it's a di you know, it, it has pros and cons, but I actually never worked as a 12 hour commuting nurse.
Kelly Duggan: Mm-hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: kids.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah, that makes sense.
Lauren Horowitz: when I was on maternity leave, I left commuting to the city and took my first job as a nurse practitioner in an office. Um, I couldn't. hit differently as a mom to be in the ICU with kids in a way I didn't think it would. Um, I didn't think it would, but
Kelly Duggan: You [00:05:00] can't fathom it.
Lauren Horowitz: once you become a mom, everything is different and you can relate to literally everything. When before I just had a job and was a really empathetic nurse, but I was not a mom.
And then, you know. are dealing with in the picu, you're mostly, know, a lot of your patients can't speak, so it's all with the parents. And now I'm a parent. It just hit totally different. Um, the days were really long, it didn't make sense to keep commuting. I loved every single moment that I was there and will take that knowledge with me for, but I also became a nurse practitioner and that was a job as a nurse, so it was time to make the next career move.
And that's when I moved to outpatient, nearby. Four days a week, regular office hours, um, which was lovely, although still working occasional weekends, which was tough.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: I, it was definitely an awesome move. I really enjoyed being closer to home, still [00:06:00] working with kids and better hours, but I didn't love, I wasn't ever sure that I wanted to work as a pediatrician. And I would never regret it because it taught me so much. And I also think that I was a better provider because I was a mom, but it still wasn't exactly what I was looking for. But when I was there, I had exposure and training to learn more about lactation, dealing with all of the new parents and new moms and new babies, and. truth is, is I learned so much while I was there I realized I did wrong in the breastfeeding world with my son, and that was really eye-opening because as a primary care provider, as an advanced practice registered nurse, as a nurse practitioner, I literally did everything wrong in the breastfeeding world with my first child.[00:07:00]
Kelly Duggan: Which tells you something about the information moms are getting?
Lauren Horowitz: It tells you something about the information moms are getting and also the information that the medical field is
Kelly Duggan: Yes, yes.
Lauren Horowitz: which is crazy and that, you know, that spoke so loudly to me. I love when I have patients that are in the medical fields because they validate the fact, which I say all the time, but they validate the fact that things that I teach you as an I-B-C-L-C, you don't learn necessarily in medical school or nurse practitioner school or physician assistant at school. So. How do moms know what they're doing at all? Like as I couldn't have been more educated to take care
Kelly Duggan: A baby. Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: and I did everything wrong. I mean, I, I was a wonderful mom and parent and I, you know, did a great job caring for him, but I did nothing right in the breastfeeding world, and
Kelly Duggan: Why do you think that gap exists
Lauren Horowitz: why
Kelly Duggan: middle? Yeah. Why or how? Both, I guess.[00:08:00]
Lauren Horowitz: well. People I've found that people feel like they can, including myself, figure it out. Um, and of course we can, because if you think back to like the caveman days, there were no lactation consultants. We're all mammals. We're supposed to breastfeed whether we want to or not. Um, and that is true today, but. There's, I realized as a primary care practitioner that there was a gigantic knowledge gap because if I wasn't learning, if I didn't know this from nurse practitioner school, being an advanced practice provider, how are regular moms that don't have an advanced degree in pediatrics supposed to know any of this unless they seek that knowledge? And so I. Realized like I'm going to seek this knowledge, um, more than just my [00:09:00] experience as a primary care provider and realized I can try to fill this gap. And what's more relatable than a mom who made every mistake learned how to not make any of those mistakes. Um. Studied my tush off, and then I actually got pregnant with my second baby and took the certification exam when she was three weeks old and I was three weeks postpartum, which like I still can't believe happened.
Kelly Duggan: My gosh.
Lauren Horowitz: I just took a chance on myself because if I had failed, like there's a great excuse why I failed.
Kelly Duggan: Yep.
Lauren Horowitz: is fine, right? We gotta give ourselves a little bit of grace, but the exam was only offered twice a year, and I was, I became so passionate about helping other moms and having you learn what not to do that I did, and just how to make you prepared, confident, and powered set up for success. will die in a hill to say that [00:10:00] I love to meet you before the baby is born, so you can get all of this knowledge that I wanna share with you. So you're prepared the baby's here and it's not as, oh my God, what am I doing? And
Kelly Duggan: From experience, I can agree.
Lauren Horowitz: you think it's not gonna be that way. I didn't think it would be that way, but I didn't know what I was doing and I blame my lack of success with my first child in the breastfeeding realm on things that I didn't know that I wish I knew. So. Turned that boat around and with my second child, had a beautiful, amazing breastfeeding experience. And the, and the missing link is just the education. And now I've made it my passion and goal to educate you, whoever you are, mom or mom to be on how to it right and how, what a difference it makes if you actually. Have the [00:11:00] information and it's not just figure it out, it, it's not just figure it out or I wouldn't have a job. But now I took the leap, which was at the time, not the smartest idea, but the best idea I ever made. Looking back on it, I took my stable. Employee job a nurse practitioner and went to work at as an independent contractor. Um. Seeing clients starting, like literally career change from, I mean, I was, I was doing a lot of lactation education prior as a primary care practitioner, but I was also, you know, prescribing antibiotics for ear infections and, you know, talking about
Kelly Duggan: Student.
Lauren Horowitz: And it's a
Kelly Duggan: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: turn, but I went from my stable. Paycheck to only [00:12:00] getting paid for the moms that I see. And I started, you know, I started with like two or three moms a week and now I have four or five moms a day.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: every day I am so thankful and grateful that I took that really silly or I, you know, really scary leap. Um. Because obviously I was making nowhere near the same amount of
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: but now I am, you know, in a way different position.
Seeing, I think my first year I saw, it on a spreadsheet somewhere, but I, I think I saw like. Maybe 200 moms the first year, which is still incredible from from zero. And then my second year it was like over 750, so it was like a three greater than 300% increase. Uh, which is so cool. And every single one of these moms is. Learn something because I, as educated as I could have been, didn't know anything in the breastfeeding world. [00:13:00] So that's my journey now. I am so unbelievably fulfilled. I make my own hours, which is quite lovely. I have my two kids at home and my dog. so I mean, you can attest to that. There's nothing like working for yourself where
Kelly Duggan: No.
Lauren Horowitz: kid has a. Holiday party in their class. You just block your schedule.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: and that was the other thing, once you become a mom, your priority shift, and I wanna help other moms. Similarly to you, but your first priority is being a mom.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: I never had a job in the PICU or in my primary care office. You know, I always had to like ask for time off and it to someone and how
Kelly Duggan: Mm-hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: is to. Report to myself and I'm like, take any time off that I want. It's, it's quite lovely when, then also I'm at work, I'm like, you know, changing the world for these moms. It's a really rewarding, powerful experience [00:14:00] and including you, so,
Kelly Duggan: I love your story, Lauren. Like I love it so very much, and I had only gotten to hear the SparkNotes version before today, so thank you so much for sharing all of that in its entirety. I would love to talk a little bit about the mindset that you were in when you had to make that very scary leap, right?
When you're, you have the certification, now you know that doing this full-time is what you wanna do as an independent contractor, but like there are a lot of moms listening to this podcast right now who maybe have the call to go do something different or crazy 'cause it feels very crazy in that moment, but are scared, right?
So. Take us back to, to that decision making process for you. What did that look like? What were the things that you weighed in that moment?
Lauren Horowitz: It was very scary. I validate every mom that's scared to do that. I, and like looking back, I say this all the [00:15:00] time. Looking back, it was not a good decision having a second brand new baby. My husband was working at a new startup. Like it wasn't a smart decision, I just, I knew that I could be happier than what I was doing, and I liked my job, but I wasn't obsessed.
I didn't love it. It didn't it, you know, it didn't. adore helping moms now, and I've totally taken what I want to do into my own hands. It was very scary, but I am so grateful that I just did it. With a gigantic risk of maybe it not working out. but I'm so thankful that I just did it look at me now and you
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: I'm like, I always joke, which is ridiculous to say, but I always say that like I'm 11 outta 10 job satisfaction, which is like, [00:16:00] cool.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: Um, and I have never said that before. There's always something that you would change. I truly wouldn't change anything about. I help other moms. Being a mom is the most important thing to me, so I understand how important it's to you and you know, you, whoever you are that I'm helping. Certainly you, Kelly, but
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: whoever you are, I know how important being a mom is.
It is not even something you necessarily will know will be the most important thing until you're in that position. And if you just take that leap, like. You can be, if you are not 100% happy with where you are in your life, there is a state of the world where you can be. And I, I
Kelly Duggan: Say it louder. I.
Lauren Horowitz: I just, I didn't know at the ti at the, at the time I was so scared because I was like, is this ridiculous? I am starting with a new baby from the ground up, but I [00:17:00] took the leap, I did it, and I'm literally, I've ne I have 110% job. Satisfaction. helping other people, which feels really, really great. It is really, really rewarding and, and I'm working for myself. That's so cool.
Kelly Duggan: That is. That is so cool. And I think you hit on one of the. Biggest lies, particularly in corporate culture, but in in working culture right now, which is that you're never gonna love everything that you do, right? Like you're never gonna like your job, you do it, you get paid, you leave, and there's nothing wrong with that.
I think there are times in our life where it's like, you know what? Maybe finance financials are the most important, and I'm clocking in and clocking out because that's what I need at this, this time. I, I, I get that. But so few of us believe that it is possible to love everything, right? Like you're always gonna have the annoying boss, or you're always gonna have the commute that sucks.
Or you're gonna like, you can love maybe 80%, but like everything, [00:18:00] and it is possible, and you are living proof of that, of like, if you just keep moving, you can find, as you mentioned, a state of the world where you are 110% happy in what you do.
Lauren Horowitz: I mean, I didn't know it existed. I was like. Fine where I was working before, but I didn't even know that it, I was able to be this happy, which is so cool. And again, you know, financially are a lot of times where are in a great, your, your situation is a great financial place where it makes sense to take the leap and take the risk. It wasn't like my husband and I talk about it all the time where we were like, what did. I just do with like getting rid of my stability. But it took a year of working harder than I've ever worked while loving it. Um, so rewarding and I'm [00:19:00] now making more than I made with my own schedule. Like, it, it, but, but again, looking back like all the time we're like. That wasn't smart, but whatever 'cause it.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: now and I'm so happy it's working out. Um, and sometimes you just have to take the leap of faith. If
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: out there that you're just not sure, but there's a chance that it could really take off and you could be so freaking happy, do it.
Kelly Duggan: Well, especially as you can always get a job, right? You can always go back doing,
Lauren Horowitz: Like,
Kelly Duggan: I said, was that your contingency?
Lauren Horowitz: a nurse practitioner, I'm also a nurse with ICU experience, like I can all, there's a nursing shortage everywhere all the time.
Kelly Duggan: Mm-hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: I, I, I did have that to lean on that, like if it's not gonna work out. I'll be okay. But I also, I mean, when, how I met you, Kelly, was I teach, um, new parenting classes.
So like a, I, we met at through the Parent [00:20:00] Collective, which is
Kelly Duggan: Hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: a four week childbirth education series class. one week specializes on feeding your baby. So that's really my, my week to shine, but. I, I said like, I need to meet more people. I need to broaden in my network. I love educating, I love teaching, I love new parents. Um, and that was another like opportunity to get in with more people, more providers, meet more moms, get more clients, um, connect with new moms. I feel like so much of I have to connect. I mean, I can connect with a rock, but. A big, you know, you're in a really vulnerable period as a new mom and having met you beforehand, establish a relationship.
We are connected, you know, emotionally like I we're. We've connected on a friend level and it's a lot, you feel a lot more confident. Having met the person, knowing the resources are there, knowing that when your daughter is [00:21:00] 4, 5, 6 days old, I'll be there at your house to support you and, and then the biggest thing about my job that I is that there's a why behind everything I say.
So we pride on being evidence-based at Milk Street. I didn't even mention that. I work at Milk Street Lactation. Um, so we are a feeding. We are feeding specialists that help support feeding your baby in any capacity, breastfeeding, bottle feeding, formula, feeding, going back to work, which we can certainly talk about pumping, weaning when you're ready to be done with breastfeeding, however you wanna feed your baby, I don't care.
I just want you to feel supported and powered and confident in the decision to do such and, do it well. so you don't make the same mistakes that I made. where was I going with that? I don't know where I was going with that, but
Kelly Duggan: well, it, it sparked something for me that I wanted to say too, is just one I think. [00:22:00] You are so right in the benefit of having that relationship ahead of time. Because I can speak from my experience being a new mom of a baby who ended up coming by emergency c-section two weeks early, um, and breastfeeding just not coming naturally to me.
Also, I had
Lauren Horowitz: of derailed.
Kelly Duggan: completely derailed com completely.
Lauren Horowitz: early or
Kelly Duggan: No,
Lauren Horowitz: so then
Kelly Duggan: no.
Lauren Horowitz: oh, what do I like now? What?
Kelly Duggan: What do I do? What do I do? And had I not had the relationship with you, you and I ended up FaceTiming from the hospital, like,
Lauren Horowitz: remember that.
Kelly Duggan: and I just,
Lauren Horowitz: I, I actually talk about that anonymously to so many of my other clients. 'cause I'm like, we'll do SOS calls. I remember I had a mom that like, she knew everything before and called me crying because someone else told her something else. And
Kelly Duggan: yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: am here for your SOS FaceTime call.
Kelly Duggan: Because all of a sudden you're getting all of this information to your point about the medical industry is not necessarily, is not, there's a reason your role [00:23:00] exists. Right. And,
Lauren Horowitz: saying. The why. Yeah.
Kelly Duggan: and that for, to be able to have that moment of like. Oh my gosh, what the heck is going on? And to have that relationship meant it meant so much.
Oh my goodness. You know, it was just, it. I, and I, I really like to be a little bit of a testimonial to all of the work that you do. Um, nursing was like the number one thing I was worried about with having a baby. Like the number one thing. I thought, if I could do this for six weeks, I'll be happy. I do not.
I I was so just, it. Frankly, like it was so foreign into me. I couldn't imagine, I couldn't fathom that people like this. Like I was like, people who love nursing, what is wrong with them? I'm now one of those people like, and here I am approaching my daughter's first birthday being like, oh my goodness. Like I had always planned to wean by the time she was 1-year-old.
How am I ever going to give this up? Like it is such a. I think, I mean, and I, I don't 100% breastfeed like [00:24:00] we've combo fed from the beginning, but it is this special, special bond and I, I, I cherish it and love it so much. And I joke with my sister all the time because she was like, I did not think that there was, someone could be more afraid of breastfeeding than you.
And now you're like the breastfeeding commercial. And I'm like, I know. And that's what you can get with an amazing lactation consultant. I would ne that would not have happened. So.
Lauren Horowitz: I'm so happy to hear that. That's
Kelly Duggan: Thank you, but one of the questions that I have for you, just kind of for moms who are in that moment, right? Like maybe they're about to have a baby and they're, it's feeling daunting to them because they're thinking, okay, I'm gonna have a maternity leave time and eventually I'm going to have to go back to work and.
How am I going to overcome what feels in that moment, like this insurmountable mountain, you know? What advice do you have that you could share right now for moms that are, are facing, facing that right. Getting ready to have their baby and knowing they're gonna be going back to work. Mm-hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: I usually say we're not [00:25:00] gonna think about that right now because it will hinder. The reality is most moms. to think about going back to work and for better or for worse, and. If the baby's not here yet, there are, and you can attest to this, there are so many hurdles that you might have to overcome or just the act of breast learning a new skill and excelling at it that have to happen long before we can even fathom the thought of leaving our baby. How am I gonna keep up my milk supply? How do I keep up my milk supply? Um, you know, what if, what if, what if that we 100% can support you through, but those and anxieties aren't helping us today.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: We can address them and we will, but before the baby comes, it is not the time to even consider it. [00:26:00] Usually when it is time to go back to work and the baby's here and everything's beautiful and we have a nice buttoned up plan, um, we start thinking about going back to work six, four to six weeks before. And I mean, just thinking about the plan and the plan is very specific to. You and your job and your baby, and everyone really has a different plan. is your baby mostly breastfeeding? Is your baby taking a bottle? There's so many factors that affect every decision that you're making that this isn't something that like. can Google because Google know if your baby is exclusively breastfeeding or bottle feeding? Are you pumping? What pump do you have?
What flange size are you using? How much are you removing? know, when should I be pumping? Google doesn't know your specific. So usually the, the, you know, the targeting, [00:27:00] going back to work conversation is usually around four to six weeks prior to returning, and we come up with a plan based on what you're currently doing, importantly, what your goals are. Every mom has a different goal. And again, I don't care how you feed your baby, I just want to help you meet your goal, whatever your goal is. Some moms are exclusively providing breast milk. Some moms are giving one bottle a day of breast milk and the rest of the bottles of the day formula. And there's no right or wrong, um, but I just wanna help you do what you want to be doing, what your goal is.
That's the other reason it's so personal. Everyone has a different goal. Some moms are like, listen, I know it's gonna be really hard for me to pump at work. Um. So whatever I make is whatever I make, and that's awesome, but it, it's totally a personalized plan. Six, four to six weeks before they return of how can we [00:28:00] achieve your goal?
Whatever your goal is for returning to work giving yourself grace. I, I cried every day before returning to work after my first baby. The whole week before it's, you feel all the feels and those are so valid. Everything is different, but you find other ways to connect with your baby and other moments that you're able to connect with your baby.
And those moments even become more special because, not that you took it for granted, but once you're now not with them every second of the day, the seconds that you are with them become more special. And yeah. So that's my take on going back to work. It's something that this, this sounds silly, but. Being stressed, which all moms are in some capacity or anxious about something. The cortis, the hormone cortisol is released and that's our stress hormone. cortisol directly [00:29:00] works inversely with prolactin, which is the milk making hormone. obviously it's so much more than saying, don't worry, because that's not a thing that you could say to a mom, but. Sometimes when you explain the science behind it, if you, if you stress about something that we don't even need to be thinking about now prior to your baby's arrival, impact your milk supply, you know, and. People say like live in the moment, of course, but saying not to stress isn't the most helpful thing, but stress directly impacts your milk supply, which is also something to consider when going back to work.
If you are feeling stressed while being at work, there are things that we can do to combat that stress. If you're still trying to nurse or pump while you're at work, bringing, um, photos, videos of your baby while you're back at work, so you have that like emotional connection. Looking at videos while you're pumping helps that [00:30:00] oxytocin release bringing like a stuffy or a like their outfit from yesterday. With you to work, um, smelling them. That is an emotional, uh, actually it becomes a hormonal connection so that, you know, there are ways to decrease stress and help increase the emotional connection. But matter how you slice or dice it, it is overwhelming to go back to work. It is a big change since you've been home in some capacity with your baby 24 7, and requires a lot of support.
Kelly Duggan: And I love your approach that you described of. Worrying about what you have to worry about at each moment. And I think that it, to your point, it's impossible to eliminate worry and stress from motherhood. Um, it, it's part of the job,
Lauren Horowitz: Yep.
Kelly Duggan: if we could limit it to worry about what has to be worried about right now, uh, there, that's a.
It goes a long way to helping [00:31:00] kind of focus where that cortisol is going and, and keep it as low as possible. Um, but that s sparked a question in my mind around when you decided to transition. Uh. To Milk Street, uh, as an inter independent contractor, you got the certification three weeks after your second baby was born.
When did you decide to make that? Were you in the postpartum period when you made that decision, or was a decision you had made prior and you were kind of fulfilling as you went?
Lauren Horowitz: Correct the latter. I am a go-getter. I, if I want something, I'll do it. So it's
Kelly Duggan: Hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: to anyone that I took that leap, although it was very, very scary and possibly the wrong decision at the time, but it's not. It was right now that I'm looking back on it. So I had, I, the, the exam was offered twice a year, so I knew I'd have a three or five, you know, whenever the baby came, was when the baby came.
But I knew I'd have a minimum three week [00:32:00] old and I had to complete 500 clinical hours, 95 lecture hours and study for that exam. And honestly, I didn't. Really study before she was born. I just didn't, I studied after she was born, and I mean, I, I was breastfeeding, so like, it was, I was practicing
Kelly Duggan: Yeah, you were living it.
Lauren Horowitz: day.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: but again, honestly, I, I told everyone I was like. I think it was like making the excuse for myself, but I was like, if I don't pass, it's totally okay. I have a three week old, I'm still bleeding. Like it's okay. But that was the plan all along that I was going to just shoot my shot and if it worked out, hooray.
And if it didn't, I'd figure it out and I probably would've gone back to my role as the primary care nurse practitioner. I passed, but fate [00:33:00] had me pass and a little bit of studying, um, and I passed. So I was not going to not take action into my own hand and go do what I really wanted to do.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah, what a, I mean, we talk about how difficult that decision is and then you add on the fact that you're postpartum on top of that, like. With that decision. Yeah. I had trouble figuring out what I wanted for lunch. You know, I am, um, I, I commend you in that. 'cause that had to be a whole other level of complexity of like, wait a minute.
Lauren Horowitz: I was pumping during the exam.
Kelly Duggan: Oh my gosh.
Lauren Horowitz: a break and asked where I could pump and they. Which is so ironic, but they were like, from my certification to become an internationally board certified lactation consultant, they told me I could pump in the bathroom or I can pump in like the public waiting area with everyone else. And so I wasn't going, I you don't prepare your kids' meal in the bathroom.
Kelly Duggan: No.
Lauren Horowitz: pumped in front of everyone and you [00:34:00] know, oh well. It's unfortunate that they didn't provide me if they should be legally providing me a private space, but needed a pump. Needed a pump, so in the middle. But I was three weeks out in the middle of the exam pumping, which was quite but
Kelly Duggan: Oh my gosh, that is crazy to me how the world is not set up to support lactating mothers, um, in, in,
Lauren Horowitz: Amen.
Kelly Duggan: something that is so natural and so common. Um, that is definitely over the. Yeah, it, there's definitely progress, like for sure. Um, but it is one of the things that have been really amazing to me of. You, you don't know it until you're in it, but it's just a constant thought of like, okay.
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, I have been the queen of nursing in my car for the last year. You know? Um, like I just that, and the funniest thing is like, especially when RI was going through like periods of being very [00:35:00] distracted and all these things, she would nurse the best in the car. Like, I almost considered going out.
Like I'd be home and be like, we're just gonna go in the car. I think like, I don't know how to keep you focused,
Lauren Horowitz: Great.
Kelly Duggan: um, but. But this the funny times of like, you see somebody walking by the car and you're like, nothing to see here. Please ke, please keep moving. Um, it just moms figure it out.
Lauren Horowitz: I breastfed in a car. I was like, I am such a badass. Like, I'm taking my kid out on errands and they're hungry, so I'll just feed them and then continue the errands. And I remember that was like a, I never did that with my first, and I was like, this is such a win. I can, I'm, I feel confident that I know my body can feed this child in totality, finish her off, and then keep on with our day.
And I was like, this is, I'm such a badass nursing in my car.
Kelly Duggan: I, it is becoming a mom I really do believe makes you superwoman. And I know it's so cliche and you can't fully grasp it until you are in it, but I currently [00:36:00] think back to like all of the moms I've come across throughout my career and I have worked with who were. Pumping between meetings who were, now I know the level of sleep deprived and who were showing up at work like everybody else, every single day.
Lauren Horowitz: Yep.
Kelly Duggan: and I wanna go back and be like, go give them a hug, like, you know, to my, to my past self. But you can't physically understand it. Even if you are empathetic to it, you can't really understand it until you've been in those shoes.
Lauren Horowitz: I've said that those sentences many times, you want to be a good friend, but you are a so much better friend. To a friend of yours that just gave birth once, you are already a mom. And I remember feeling, I remember reaching out to my friends that had babies before me and apologizing for not being there as much as I could have.
But it's not possible to know that level unless you've experienced it.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah. And to know the right things to say or to how, not only [00:37:00] show up enough, but to show up in the right way that doesn't feel overwhelming.
Lauren Horowitz: no one's fault. You can't be a
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: club until you're a part of the club.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah. It is. It's, it's crazy. So what advice do you have for moms who are. Maybe they're getting ready to return to work. Maybe they've recently returned to work and they want something different.
They are feeling that they need something different in their career. You have always kind of listened to the beat of your own drum through your career and, and made those moves. What advice do you have for moms who are, are sitting in contemplating these decisions right now?
Lauren Horowitz: Just do it. You can always fall back on something. Someone will hire you if it doesn't work out. But if you don't, just do it and try. You have no idea if it's gonna work out. It's scary. I was so scared, but it worked out
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: and there's, you know, you're. long as you don't burn bridges, you can always, you know, [00:38:00] you can always get another job it
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: work
Kelly Duggan: Mm-hmm.
Lauren Horowitz: if you want to go get something else that you are passionate about, you'll never know if you can achieve it if you don't try.
And I know that's so cliche and ridiculous to say, but I would not be so happy right now if I didn't make that really, really, really challenging decision to take the leap.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah. And whatever reality you're imagining for yourself right now, there is somebody living that. Uh, so it is possible, like there is somebody doing that right now. Um, and it can feel like it is so far away when you're on the other side. But I, I, I was not a mom yet when I left WWE E, but I knew I wanted to be, and it was definitely part of my career planning vision for.
How I wanted to be able to mom when it was time to mom and I, it, it all worked out now, but I relate to so much in that moment of being like, this is crazy. Like this is a really great job. I'm doing really well. [00:39:00] Everything is financially really strong for us. Like, and now I'm just going to like, say. I'm gonna
Lauren Horowitz: Take
Kelly Duggan: give this up for a wing and a prayer.
Um, and it can be a incredibly kind of scary thing, scary thing to do, but it does, it, it, it can pay off and it does pay off. Um, but it does take, it does take kind of gambling on yourself. It in that moment.
Lauren Horowitz: If your personality is a go-getter, you can do it.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: It's so freaking hard, but you can do it. And I also believe that like every, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my job as a nurse practitioner. I wouldn't have fell in love with lactation. Um, I'm so grateful for that. I think that every step that you take does get you closer to the next step.
It's just finding what is that final step that makes you so happy? And honestly, like I hope to be doing this for the next 50 years seriously. I, I, I don't think I could ever be happy than what I'm currently [00:40:00] doing. The structure, um, the independence. The rewarding aspect of working with my clients. Like it's so, and I'm sure you can, you could say the exact same
Kelly Duggan: Oh yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: but it is, it's so scary.
I would say just take the leap. If you're not a go-getter, just become one. Like
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: attitude where it's like, I'm not gonna settle for anything less. I am going to make this work for myself. And then surrounding yourself by people that know that you can do it and support you, um, physically, emotionally, financially. But, um, that's a possibility. I mean, honestly, like I said, it was not the right decision at the time, financially for us to take, for me to take this leap. I did it and it worked out.
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: so I would just, I would just do it. I know that's crazy, but I wouldn't
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: so happy if I didn't.
Kelly Duggan: It was a decision that I contemplated for a really long time, and when I finally made the decision, I literally, there was this moment I looked at my husband and I was [00:41:00] like, all I had to do was do it. Like all I had to do was actually walk away and do it. And there is a world for both of us where what we chose first could have not worked out, you know, and.
That is okay too because it's not your last stop. It's just your next stop. You know, if, if you have the mentality that you're going to keep trying things until it works, you will find the thing that works. Um, it, because I can tell you I am, I have. It's been under the umbrella of your place at the top since I left, but it has, it has, I've had so many different kind of coaching offerings and clients that I've worked with and, and things that have been more successful than others.
Um, and you just keep going until you find the thing that works. Uh, and you, you can, you can get there. Yeah. Lauren, thank you so much for joining us. Where can people find you? Because I need everyone to go to your Instagram to be able to, to see the amazing content you're putting out there. I.
Lauren Horowitz: [00:42:00] Amazing. Um, we, you can pop into our office in East Norwalk, Connecticut at Milk Streete, lactation. You can follow milk Streete, lactation on Instagram or my personal account is Lauren d Horowitz. So we are posting toddler content, mom content and breastfeeding, bottle feeding, debunking myths, everything you need to know to. Adequately feed your child. So
Kelly Duggan: Yeah.
Lauren Horowitz: our goal. We wanna, you know, we want to provide evidence-based information because there's a lot of misinformation out there, but that's, that's our goal to provide to, to new moms and new parents. So, milk, stre, lactation on Instagram, and my personal is Lauren d Horowitz on Instagram.
Kelly Duggan: All right, and go, go, go. Follow Lauren. Work with Lauren, work with Milk Street. I could. I've got a million wonderful things to say, but Lauren, thank you so much for being here. Oh, I am too. Let me tell you. Well, I loved hearing your story in even more detail, and um, I just can't wait to be able to [00:43:00] maybe even have you back and talk about how much you're still loving this five, five years from now.
Lauren Horowitz: I'd love to come back. Thank you so much for having me. This was awesome, Kelly.
Kelly Duggan: Thanks Lauren.
