2022 Grant Update: Ancient Wisdom Birth Services Launch

We named our second-ever recipient of the Waves of Change Grant in late 2021, and since early 2022, the Design Lab and grant participants have been working to support this year’s winner.

After 6+ months of working together, we’re so excited to announce that the NEW Ancient Wisdom Birth Services, run by the amazing Nyasia Sims, has now launched!

Meet Ancient Wisdom

A Detroit-based obstetrical surgical technician and mother of three, Nyasia is a doula lactation specialist who helps pregnant people deliver their babies and support them through breastfeeding.

On top of her work directly with families, Nyasia also works with hospitals and healthcare organizations to show providers how to address potential issues with lactation and breastfeeding after birth.

Nyasia is highly involved in her Detroit community, where the maternal-fetal mortality rate is some of the highest in the country (and the world), and where education on lactation techniques is low. Her mission is to educate women and pregnant people on how to have safe pregnancies, and safe births, and to ensure they understand how to breastfeed afterward. 

Over the last few months, we’ve gotten to know even more about Nyasia and the amazing, and truly lifesaving, work she is doing for her community — and what an honor it’s been! 

We put our best thinking caps on and forged ahead to give her new branding, an updated website, and marketing and business plans to make her childbirth education, doula, and lactation support services even more accessible to those who need them.

What we’ve been up to behind-the-scenes

The grant team — which consists of Nicole Yang, Latasha Doyle, Myrna Daramy, Nicole Boucher, and Yasmine Spencer — took a deep dive into Nyasia’s business to understand how her brand and overall presence could help position her as one of the top experts in her field. 

Together, we:

• Mentored and provided guidance on memberships and business plans
• Rented a location and hired a brand photographer to help elevate the brand through photography
• Discussed products for pregnant/post-birth people (pregnancy tea, lotus kits, etc.)
• Crafted copy based on Nyasia’s brand voice, making sure we focused on her extensive expertise and love for pregnant and birthing people
• Organized her offers so that she could benefit from local search
• Structured her mentorship and education services so she can book more health trainings for healthcare professionals and her community at large
• Helped her choose software to market and organize her business, including Maternity Neighborhood to track lactation success data

She’ll also receive her entire year’s fees for membership and website waived so she can continue to make an impact long after the grant project wraps up.  

Want to see how everything came to life? 

Transforming Nyasia’s online presence

We worked with Nyasia to:

ORGANIZE HER OFFERS FOR HER WEBSITE

CREATE MOOD BOARD OPTIONS FOR THE BRAND

CREATE A LOGO AND STYLE GUIDE

HOST A PHOTO SHOOT WITH AMANDA BROWN

CREATE A NEW WEBSITE — AND IT’S NOW LIVE!

Stay in touch with Nyasia and Ancient Wisdom

When we started this grant program, we couldn’t wait to help a minority, womxn-owned business grow. And with this brand and website refresh, along with all the other important elements like copy and business strategy, we’re excited to see where Ancient Wisdom goes from here. 

Nyasia is a remarkable woman and we know she will only continue to make a big impact in her community. You can keep in touch with Nyasia over on Facebook and Instagram.