I want to start this week’s episode with a fun fact! This podcast was actually supposed to launch months ago. Our original publish date was actually the week after I went into labor. But, our little girls arrived early and we decided to wait. But, now it’s live and I’m so happy we’re doing this podcast! Now, I’m back in the office, and we’re ready to go. I’m learning how to be in the office again and getting into a routine, so I thought it would be fun to share how I took a 3 month maternity leave as a business owner and content creator. I recently posted on Instagram asking what kind of questions you all had for me about taking maternity leave and I’m excited to be answering them for you today! 

How long did you take off for maternity leave?

I took 14 weeks (3 months) off for maternity leave. The week that the girls arrived, I did work a few hours but I already had most of what my team needed done at that point. After that, I really didn’t work for the first 6 weeks at all. I’d been showing up on social media because I like being able to look back at those posts as the girls get bigger, but I didn’t make it stressful for myself. It was fun! But, this week is really the first time I’m back. When they’re napping, I’m trying to focus on work instead of just hanging out or relaxing. 

I’m working my way back to more hours, but it will still probably only be about 15 hours a week. Ideally 10-12 of that would be desk work and the other few would be content creation like Reels or whatever I need to do. 

Did you have someone working for you during those months and how did you prepare to go on leave?

Yes! I started preparing almost as soon as I knew I was pregnant. Before then, I knew I wanted my business to look differently, which helped. I had already been going in the direction of online education. I launched my newest shop products and the Reels Mini Course and that part of my business really took off. It really became a game changer for my business – things began to run more automatically then. At that point, I had a virtual assistant and she was handling a lot of random things in my business. I knew I wanted someone else though to help with more logistics, scheduling, managing programs, updating the website… those types of things. That’s what leads me to Maggie. Actually, it led me to Tori first. She’s absolutely awesome – and helped me with the HR process of finding and hiring my admin coordinator. 

Back in the fall, we began to get applications. Finally, around January, we were able to hire Maggie. She’s absolutely incredible and while I’ve been gone, she’s basically run everything in my business. I’ve really only been posting on social media and answering emails. She’s been a great addition to the team and really understands the entire brand. It’s been so helpful.

But to go back to how long it took, it was months. I wasn’t quite at the point where I could walk away and sustain the business when I found out I was pregnant, so we put time into making sure things would run smoothly when I did. It was important to hire and train Maggie, but I also had to think about what I needed to do before I went on leave. 

What are you doing for childcare when you go back? 

We both work from home. Michael and I are both able to take breaks and show up for our babies when we need. Obviously, that will change as we get older and I’m sure we’ll re-evaluate. But, we have some big dreams and goals for our family that will make it even easier. But, in the meantime, we’re basically at home and each focused on our work during the day. My work is flexible so I can sit down for smaller chunks and work when I’m able. We feel really good about that right now – but I’d rather work less and be able to be home with my babies. Even before I had them, I wasn’t someone who worked 40 hour work weeks. I was only at 15-20 hours, and that’s where I’d really like to keep things. 

Share your first day back experience. I’m nervous to go back. 

This is very fresh because yesterday was technically my first day back at work! It went really well. I mean, I definitely eased into stuff but this was my first week with sitting down, three days a week to focus. I felt like it was manageable for me because the twins stayed in sync with their eating and sleeping. Again, I’m not someone who works a ton so I’m thankful to have a business that’s very flexible with my time. So, that makes it way less stressful. 

Someone asked about how to be consistent on social media without being present 24/7 during maternity leave. 

I think that’s a really good question! Personally, I feel like there’s lots of ways you could really approach this. It really depends on where your business is at and how much you have to show up vs. having other people show up for you. So, I think first you have to ask yourself what your goals are, particularly around clients or bookings. If you have what you want, I would say to just not worry about Instagram – especially if you have a short maternity leave. Try to soak it up! On the flip side, you can always prep stuff before you go out – whether it’s YouTube, Instagram, or your other content on the blog. That way when you’re on leave, you don’t have to think about it. 

How I approached showing up during maternity leave was that for the first month, I knew for sure that I wouldn’t be consistent. I wanted it to be no pressure – if I wanted to drop off the face of the planet for three months, then I gave myself full permission to do that. I was still showing up on my blog, YouTube, and other places because I had prepared a ton. I would also say, I knew I had a while. But if you knew you only had 4-5 weeks, I would want to just be able to unplug completely! If you’re also a service based business, I would really encourage you to turn on your email auto responder, and to tell your clients ahead of time that you’ll be out. Newborn life is a blur and you’ll really, really enjoy just soaking it in.

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Thank you so much to everyone who sent in questions for this episode! It was so much fun to talk through maternity leave. Don’t forget, if you have questions or episode ideas, make sure to email me directly at [email protected] so we can get it added to the list!