I Built Something Big Before. I Burned Out. Here Is What I Am Building Instead.
By Jen Crawford | Doula Trainer, Doula, Life & Business Coach
My last large event had over 400 people in the room.
At that point I had co-founded DoulaCare Ireland — a national doula agency that had grown to over 45 doulas operating across the country. I was training doulas, coaching professionals, supporting families, speaking, leading a team, running a business.
And I was disappearing.
Burnout came gradually, and then all at once. An autoimmune diagnosis. A body that simply stopped. Everything I had built continued without me while I tried to figure out how to come back — and whether I wanted to come back in the same way.
What followed was a few years of rebuilding. Slower. More intentional. Getting very clear on what I wanted to create, and why, and for whom.
In Good Company is what came out of that process.
What Is In Good Company?
In Good Company is a full CPD day for doulas, therapists, midwives, charity workers, IBCLCs, antenatal educators, birth workers, postpartum supporters, yoga teachers, reflexologists and coaches — for everyone who supports families through pregnancy, birth and parenthood.
It takes place on Saturday 3rd October 2026 at the Marine Hotel in Sutton, Dublin. 70 spaces. Intentionally.
Not because I cannot fill a bigger room. I have done that. Because I know what is possible in a smaller one.
Everyone gets spoken to. Every connection is real. The conversations that happen in a room of 70 people are different from the conversations that happen in a room of 400.
There is something that happens in a smaller room of people that does not happen in a room of 400.
In a big room, you move through the day. You attend the talks. You eat the lunch. You go home.
In a smaller room, you meet the IBCLC who becomes your go-to referral partner for years. You sit beside the doula who becomes your closest colleague. You have a conversation that shifts something in how you think about your work.
The networking in this day is not a coffee break between sessions. It is the heartbeat of the day.
The referral partner who changes your practice is in a room in Dublin on 3rd October. You just have not met them yet.
What the Day Looks Like
Doors open from 9:30am for tea, coffee and connections. The programme runs from 10:15am to 4:30pm.
The day includes:
Full day coaching with Jen Crawford
Honest, practical tools for burnout and compassion fatigue
Business coaching from someone who has built in this field — and learned the hard way what not to do
Breathwork and somatic tools you can use immediately and take home
A guided journalling workbook — yours to keep
Story-sharing circles and skill-sharing session
A flyer table — bring your materials, grow your visibility
Lunch included
CPD certificate of attendance
The Marine Hotel in Sutton is free to park at and a five-minute walk from Sutton DART station. Easy to get to from across Dublin and beyond.
Who This Is For
This day is for you if you are working in the perinatal space and you sometimes feel like you are doing it alone.
It is for the doula who is brilliant with families but is not sure how to grow her practice sustainably.
It is for the midwife who is exhausted by the system but has not yet found a community of people who understand what that feels like.
It is for the IBCLC who has been meaning to go to something like this for two years and keeps putting it off.
It is for the antenatal educator, the postnatal yoga teacher, the reflexologist, the coach who works with parents — anyone who holds space for families through one of the most significant transitions of their lives.
This field is some of the most meaningful work there is. It is also some of the most isolating. In Good Company is the antidote to that isolation.
This Is Not My Biggest Event. It Is My Best One.
I built something big before. And I am proud of what DoulaCare Ireland became — the first national doula agency in Ireland, a training programme that has shaped hundreds of doulas, a body of work I care deeply about.
But I am building something different now. Smaller. More intentional. More connected.
In Good Company is the event I have been building toward since I came back from burnout. And I genuinely cannot wait to be in that room.
Book Your Place
Saturday 3rd October 2026
Marine Hotel, Sutton, Dublin
Arrive from 9:30am | Programme 10:15am — 4:30pm
Lunch included | Free parking | 5 mins from Sutton DART
70 spaces. Filling up.
Book at jen-crawford.com/in-good-company.
Jen Crawford is a Doula Trainer, Doula, and Life & Business Coach based in Ireland. She is the co-founder of DoulaCare Ireland, Ireland's first national doula agency.
@jen_crawford_doula_wisdom | jen-crawford.com
