About Me
Hi, my name is Arnesha William. I’m a stay at home mom, a Doula, a massage therapist, and an aspiring holistic health Practitioner. I was born and raised in Columbia Maryland and I’m the youngest of my amazing mother’s five beautiful children. Growing up I was automatically assigned to babysitting duty. Cousins, neighbors, nieces and nephews , heck even the kids at church because nurturing came natural to me. Growing up I’ve always had a passion for babies.
Unfortunately I grew up facing many struggles. When things were hard and I just felt down I would hold my Niece or nephew. I would get so much positive energy and peace from them. I didn’t have any worries while holding them. I felt like I was meant to love and protect them without effort. I felt like they were the purest gift from God and holding them was like holding a piece of God, his precious perfect gift. I knew at a very young age I wanted to work with babies.
I used to say I want to be a lawyer, until I realized it was nothing like Law & order. After my sister had my first nephew, everything changed. I loved babies, I was connected to babies in an unusual way so I began to look at the public library for books about babies. My new thing was I want to be a neonatologist! Because from what I could grasp as a 9 or 10 year old, babies who are in NICU needed the most help and I wanted to give help to those babies who need it the most. After I graduated high school I decided I was going to go after it by going to college but once again I unfortunately had to find out the hard way that it was not like the movies either. I decided to join the army and become a medic so I could work towards my goal in becoming a neonatologist and begin learning the medical field in a hands on way which was my best way of learning. From the beginning I would say, I know I'm on the right track, this is so my lane! The knowledge came to me so easily and it was natural for me to retain.
After medic training I was ready and excited to dive into all there was to learn as a medic in the army and what steps I needed to take to become a doctor in the army. My first assignment was Fort drum, 10th mountain and I was devastated. I was the first female medic the unit had ever had and nervous was beyond an understatement. When I was recruited I was told I’d be in a hospital and never on the line so when I got orders to 10th mountain it was a heart drop moment but I’m so blessed that 118 was the start to my journey. I was blessed to have a few amazing leaders and be surrounded by other medics who were passionate about what they did and wanted to truly help their battles be the best medics they could be. Many of them taught me that just because you're here doesn’t mean the learning ends. In the medical field practices, procedures and life are ever-changing so we must grow and learn with them. From there I went on to an urgent care. There I was able to really experience being of service to women, pregnant women and babies. I fell even more in love with my passion and knew there had to be a way I could start being of service to more of these women and children sooner.
Women are expected to be the strongest to compete with her male counterparts, tolerate less than ideal treatment from coworkers, children, and often their spouse. We are expected to be the most resilient. Expected to keep everything in order and “bounce back” from child birth, trauma, and all the other pressures of parenting and life. Women are being held to an unrealistic standard of take care of everyone husband, kids, siblings, parents, and anyone who asks for help. Women are incredible beings but who’s there to mother the mother? And what coaches do we have to show us the ropes or just how to make life easier while doing it.
I believe it takes a village of women to create, mold and shape other women to be their best. I believe we can truly help each other do this thing called life, mothering, and being a wife without depression, anxiety, anger and frustration. We may not all be the perfect mom or wife but little tidbits from each one of us all pouring into each other will help us reach our goals.
About What A Joy
The name “What A Joy” came from my first baby girl Aubrie Joy. She truly is “A Joy” and brings just that to everyone she encounters. I got the idea of starting my business to empower, encourage, and uplift women after finding out the hard way that being a mom and being a military mom is not for the faint of hearts. During my time as a medic in the army I was blessed enough to find the love of my life and get stationed in Hawaii. I was assigned in an urgent care and had the opportunity to encounter several moms and infants. I fell in love with how it felt to provide amazing service to them both. While stationed in Hawaii I had both my baby girls, Aubrie and Bliss. During the course of both births I had some pretty intense situations arise and did not have a doula. At the time, I wasn’t too sure what a doula was so I only gained knowledge about my pregnancy and birth through google, YouTube, and my limited birth related medical experience. I felt powerless and at the mercy of the doctors. With both my babies I struggled and cried day after day trying to produce enough breast milk to exclusively breastfeed my babies. I had very little success until I came up with recipes that worked amazingly for milk production! Family, friends and coworkers loved my recipes and saw major improvement in their supply. Aubrie and Bliss were both very attached and I needed to get work done so I cut and sewed some fabric that worked wonders as an easy, comfortable, and safe way of holding your baby and being hands free. Each idea I had that made life a little easier for moms I would constantly say I wish I could give every mom this!
What A Joy provides the opportunity to do just that! I want What A Joy to be the way a young, newly married military couple can have birth support, questions answered and the birth of their dreams. That can create an unbreakable bond and strengthens their marriage in a way you can only imagine! I believe creating a solid foundation and providing education to both mommy and daddy is crucial! As a mother having support and tools that can make life easier is major to for good mental health and just makes motherhood a little easier! My goal is that every woman be afforded the opportunity to be educated on what our body’s can and will do during pregnancy, labor and postpartum. Also to provide the tools needed to make things a little less stressful during those first few years of their child’s precious life. What A Joy means peace in someone’s home. What A Joy means an empowered fearless birth. What A Joy means a women with a deployed husband will NOT have to birth alone. What A Joy means a full term, healthy, happy baby with a belly full of milk! What A Joy means a smile, a sigh of relief, and most of all Joy on the faces and Bliss in the hearts of so many mothers! Let’s make this vision your reality!
