Today we’d like to introduce you to Arialle K Smith.
Hi Arialle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Birth work was actually something that I began to show interest in as a child. When I was a preteen, I use to stay up and watch birth stories on PBS where they actually showed live births. I was so fascinated by the birth world and set my mind to become an obstetrician. I later shifted to wanting to become a pediatrician because I absolutely loved interacting with babies and caring for children. I did neither of those things and ended up becoming a professional dancer. While training, I would babysit and nanny for families often because they found that their children and I would get along really well. Watching children was something that I really enjoyed and did it off and on for about 9 years. Later, after getting injured while on tour, I returned back to my hometown and opened a dance studio tailored to children ages 3-18. In 2020, during the pandemic, a doula training became available and I was tagged in their post. For some reason, a few people saw me in the role of a doula not knowing my full history. It was just the encouragement and push that was needed to take a step forward into birth work. I completed my holistic birth doula training and later became certified in postpartum work and launched a breastfeeding campaign celebrating Black Breast Feeding week with local moms from our community. I also became more active in my pursuit as a newborn/milestone photographer which, again, was intuitive with the work that I was already doing. I have always found myself at the intersection of caring for women, babies, and my community while flexing my creativity.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some challenges to becoming a birth worker has actually been minor. I originally set out to become a doula in 2018 but due to scheduling conflicts, it was not working out. I thought that becoming a doula was out of the picture because I simply did not have the time to train during the week. I am so thankful that it worked out for me to train with The Set Apart Doula Collective.
As you know, we’re big fans of Momma Magnolia LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Momma Magnolia is a lifestyle brand that celebrates all of the milestone moments of Women and families, from carrying, to birthing their child, and then fostering their growth, our desire is to encapsulate those precious moments through photography/videography. As a birth doula, I partner with families throughout their pregnancy.journey where we meet and get to know each other to build relationship and trust. During prenatal meetings we discuss birth and postpartum goals in detail along with any questions to feel empowered for labor and birth. Once in labor, I join families for birth and support throughout immediate postpartum. Post birth, I offer assistance as families transition into parenthood and will hold space for them to process the birth.
As a mom, former nanny and teacher, I intuitively approach each client as I understand that each birth story is unique. I offer a tailored experience and allow for creativity to guide any kind of session that I host with families. Limiting the amount of families that I take each month allows for me to spend quality time prior to a family’s birth giving them ample tools throughout their pregnancy to positively affect their birth trajectory.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I would consider myself a risk taker. As the youngest and creative, I do not not do well with monotony and have always been on the adventurous side. At the age of 19, I kind of tricked my parents into letting me go to NY for what they thought was just a summer, but after auditioning for a major dance school, The Ailey School, I got in and told them that I was staying for the year. Well I ended up staying in NY for 9 years. While there, I left and went on tour as a nanny with some artist for Cirque du Soleil and eventually danced on a cruise ship that toured the North Sea, Canada, and the Caribbean. I met my boyfriend, now husband after randomly doing a film. We married after 9 months of knowing each other and then opened up a dance studio with no prior business experience. I truly believe in saying, “yes” when opportunities knock on your door and figuring out the rest later. Life is so much fun that way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mommamagnolia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momma_magnoliallc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BzDDVByZx/
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@mommamagnolia5886
