Valerie, the idea of a "wad of cash" in my pocket after speaking is a
concept that sounds much better on paper than in reality! I love teaching
and speaking, but I'm not getting rich doing it. Public speaking isn't for
everyone - in fact, the fear of public speaking is rated very high on most
"stress" scales. Most of us don't do this for the money - at least not in
the lactation consultant universe!

I do my homework thoroughly for every lecture, which means buying and
reading virtually every book and video that comes out, searching Medline and
other sources for the latest references, go through reams of paper printing
out research articles (obeying copyright laws), paying for on-line-access,
driving across town to the medical library once a month or so, maintaining
both my home and laptop computer plus accessories and software, and more.
And all that's done in the spaces between seeing clients and other aspects
of what I do. Then I leave my home at 0-dark-hundred hours to catch an early
flight, try to get something done in the waiting area in the airport and
during the flights, and hope someone friendly meets me and my luggage at the
destination. Attendees who don't like what I have to say will write on their
evaluations that I'm "opinionated" or make some other negative comment, no
matter how rigorously I've researched the topic or carefully explained the
issue. Sometimes they gripe that I presented Topic A when they wanted to
hear more on Topic B - despite the fact that the organizers specifically
asked me to address Topic A in depth. Even asking for a speaking fee is
guesswork - I try to guess what the organizers are willing to pay, and they
try to guess what I'll accept to leave my family for 2-5 days to give some
presentations "over yonder." How much is my time, knowledge, and experience
worth? That's the age-old question that we're all struggling to answer,
especially in this field. We do this (meaning speaking or helping mothers)
because it NEEDS to be done. I love teaching, and would like to think I'm
fairly good at it. I love helping mothers & babies. I love researching
lactation related topics. I love explaining research findings in a way that
audiences "get it." I love discovering new connections - ideas that nobody
has written or spoken about yet. I could probably make lots more money
selling siding, but I wouldn't be getting anywhere near as much satisfaction
from my work!

Valerie, your investigation into patents on milk components is unique,
stunningly important, and highly relevant to our work, both clinically and
politically. Please send in an abstract!  In fact, send abstracts to any
forum you can think of as often as you can.

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre www.bflrc.com
6540 Cedarview Ct., Dayton, OH 45459-1214 USA
(937) 438-9458 email [log in to unmask]

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