“My encouragement to other female entrepreneurs is not to discount the experience that you’ve had in all of your various life experiences, whether in employment, motherhood, or different business ventures.” – Allison Hayek

 

Sarah Morey and Allison Hayek are both moms. And, they’re both businesswomen who saw a need for comprehensive midwifery care and an educational facility to serve the parents of Wyoming. With that knowledge, and help from the Wyoming Women’s Business Center, they started Earthside Birth and Wellness, Wyoming's first free-standing birth center. 

 

Sarah and Allison both have extensive experience with pregnancy and childbirth care in the state. Sarah serves as CEO of Earthside Birth and Wellness, and is a doula and Certified Lactation Counselor. Allison serves as the CFO of Earthside Birth and Wellness and is a doula as well. Both have served as birth workers in Wyoming, and Allison noted, “In talking with other moms … I saw the real need for a community center: a place for moms to gather in Cheyenne to have resources for childbirth education, lactation resources, and also just for relationships. We definitely see our center in the future being a hub of medical care for pregnancy and birth, a place for education for childbirth and lactation, and a relational and community space for moms and kids.”

 

In 2022, the two women teamed up to conceive Earthside Birth and Wellness. They had had experiences in their own pregnancies of traveling long distances out of Wyoming for maternal care and midwifery. Sarah, who has been a birth worker in southeast Wyoming for over ten years, knew that many midwives and doulas in the area travel hundreds of miles to see their clients. Midwives in Wyoming often move to states that can better support their work; and expecting mothers travel out of state for midwifery care. Sarah noted, “Even with the lack of midwives in the state, Wyoming has almost double the home birth rate. So there is definitely an interest in the women of Wyoming having midwife care. How could we solve that problem? Can we build a sustainable center where midwives are always coming and going, but the center is always here and we are always able to offer that care?”

 

With that goal in mind, Sarah and Allison turned to the Wyoming Women’s Business Center for resources and counseling. “In the very beginning, Dreambuilder was the big selling point... But being able to connect the different small business resources through [the WWBC] was important. We ended up getting CanvaPro, referred to a year of Quickbooks, and I think for us the most valuable resource has been hooking up with Christine Langley and the business coaching. What an amazing resource that we have that has been provided to us free. Whenever we get off a call with her, I have an action item and I feel much better.” 

 

Sarah and Allison have been meeting and corresponding with business counselor, Christine Langley, for over a year. With counseling and in that short time frame, they were able to enter in and win the Impact 307 business start-up competition for funding and secure a lease in a space in Cheyenne for their center. They completed financial projections through the Wyoming Women’s Business Center and underwent marketing coaching with a GeekPack subscription. They had an official ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the business coming to fruition in their new space on March 24, 2024They continue to meet with Langley for monthly check-ins and advising to navigate the future sustainability of their business. 

 

Sarah reflected, “​​Key for me is continuing to help us not just start-up but supplying that help when we’re at 3 years or 5 years down the road… It would definitely be a huge recommendation to any of my female friends looking to start a business, that [the WWBC] is the first place to go.”