Erin Vinson Be Brave Award Winner Spring 2020

Hey Ya’ll! 

My name is Erin Vinson. Lover of all things purple, sweet tea, photography, and animals of course! I’m a 26 year old, mother to one sweet little nugget, my two month old, Edyn Azalea. As the youngest of four girls, I was born and raised right here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, more commonly known to the SEC crowd as  “Title Town”. ROLL TIDE ROLL! In 2018, I graduated from THE University of Alabama where I received my first Bachelors of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies. Coincidentaly, this is also where my love of all things coffee started! Ha! 

Overall, I would like to consider myself a nice fusion of earthy, birth-y, and a heaping scoop of nerdy. I’m crafty by nature, so in my free time I enjoy all things science, DIY as well as being an avid baker and musician. I’d like to think that I’ve mastered my current techniques, but would love to attend a class or two to add more skills to my repertoire. Outside of work and school, you can usually find me somewhere outside or spending time with my family as well.

Let’s face it, babies are broke and EXPENSIVE tiny humans! Ha! As a single mom, things can get tight. For the longest time, I have attributed that I needed to always place my daughter’s needs above my own. Sadly, I used this as a reason to postpone starting the program previously. Whereas before, I have always been my own biggest critic, sharing my experiences through the application process moved for me to be just that. Brave. I felt as though my qualities and the will to persevere despite the odds against me and adverse life events in my past resonated with the characteristics of a Brave BeboBabe. In the long run, being the runner-up for the Bebo Mia Be Brave Award is shaping the future of my life and career path as I ultimately embark on being a changemaker for the birthing community.

Have you ever gone out to the store in search of a great pair of shoes to compliment that new outfit you just scored? You’ve got everything down to the perfect pair of earrings and just know that you can’t complete the look without an awesome set of kicks. Finding Bebo Mia Inc. was just like slipping into Cinderella’s glass slipper. I just knew it was a perfect fit. The company was founded by women, with the very purpose of serving a population that is well. As if the company’s mission statement wasn’t enough to draw me in, after delving in to see who these BOSS #Bebobabes really were and why they do what they do, I just knew this was the perfect match for me and the personal standards that I uphold in my own life. Bebo Mia recognizes the need for doulas as paraprofessionals working in tandem with the various other professionals within the birthing practices and communities. Not only do they seek to address the needs of providing a diverse community of individuals to match the ever changing populous, they are also proactive in making sure that you have the tools you need to succeed. In other words, Bebo Mia is molding the future of birthing families by nurturing the minds of upcoming birth workers today.

From a young age, I have always been determined that I wanted a career that involves helping people in any way that I could. Oddly enough, the inner workings of the human body, more so the reproductive system was a major interest as well. I knew early on, that my purpose in life was to serve in a manner that supported birthing individuals. After realizing that I NEEDED to finally begin fulfilling my calling in the birthing community, I began working full time in the local women and children’s unit in my town a couple years after high school. Taking care of my younger patients provides me with a firsthand look at how the parents, families, and children cope with their hospital stay and care in the maternity unit. More specifically, working with patients from a multitude of backgrounds and age ranges has afforded me the opportunity to witness a variety of responses and reactions to the “standard model of care” that many of our old school doctors still adhere to today. I have seen some that have come in and are very acceptive and inquisitive about the care they receive during their stay as well as others that are absolutely terrified of every occurrence. On average, every birth carries one of two possible outcomes, in terms of the process, for the birthing individual and their family. It can leave an inherently bad or good memory for families. By becoming a doula, I intend to be the unbiased factor in my clients healthcare that strives to increase positive outcomes while advocating and making sure that all birthing individuals’ voices and choices are not only heard, but also respected. 

My main business goal is to be an advocate for those voices that are often overlooked due to socioeconomic and cultural factors. In doing so, I plan to specifically aid in overall health promotion with a focus on the core of fertility practices. I intend to use community outreach efforts in order to provide accurate informative sessions that instills the power of knowledge within individuals in the community that may not know of their right to choose throughout their birthing process. Additionally, I plan to build my business on the grounds of restoring and creating more positive experiences shared between the relationship between providers, birthworkers, and birthing clients. 

-Erin Vinson