Well, hello, hello! It feels so weird, but also so right, to be behind the mic again. The last episode of the Breakthrough Brand podcast aired in April, at the end of my season celebrating 10 years in business. I planned a short break, maybe two months, and it turned into seven (after what was already an extra long maternity leave).
A lot of life has happened since then, so today is a friend-to-friend catch-up on our family life, my decision to take a really long maternity leave, and our big move. (Next episode, 336, covers the business side of this break.)
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Baby #3 and an Extra-Long Maternity Leave
In July of 2025, I had my third baby, Sofia, after an amazing home birth. When she was born, Ethan was only 16 months old and Colin wasn’t even four yet. “Hands full” is an understatement.
Even on my third baby, I honestly didn’t know what I wanted my work life to look like after maternity leave. So my encouragement for any mom with little kids who also owns a business: give yourself grace to not know yet, and to decide those things later on.
As maternity leave was ending, I interviewed a babysitter to come one day a week. She was great, but it just didn’t sit right with me. Because I’ve had my business the whole time I’ve been a mom, I could ask myself: what do I wish I’d done differently in the first year with my first two kids? With Ethan, I had a nanny two days a week after maternity leave, and I really wish I’d had more one-on-one time with him. So I felt God calling me to scale the business back further and stay home with Sofia, with the boys at preschool two days a week, until she was ready to join them. It was a really great decision.
I’m not saying this to tell anyone what they should do or want to do. I share it because I think it’s so helpful to hear what other moms do and why, and too many mom business owners keep this stuff quiet because of the judgment. The question I kept asking was: if I could have this the way I think is best for me and my kids, what would that look like, and how can I work toward some version of it?
Read more: How to Navigate Becoming a Mom When You Already Have a Business You Love
Lite Mode, Preschool and a New Season of Business
Since April, I’ve been working one day a week or less, in what I call “lite mode.” And through it, I’ve grown so much. I’ve realized that my identity is not in my business. Scaling back means the business makes less money, and learning to trust God with that has been hard but so good. (My business has still made good money with me barely working in it, which I’ll talk about next week!) Honestly, caring for three little kids all day is harder in many ways than working in a quiet house. I love it and feel called to it, but it ain’t easy.
Now Sofia has started preschool two days a week, at the same place as her brothers. I cried a lot the first two days, because we’re used to being together all the time. But it’s also given me real margin: an empty house, an office to record in, and time to dream and strategize again. I’m being reminded how much I love working, even though revving back up after slowing down is hard.
So I worked out that I have about 11 to 12 hours a week for work and free time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with housework still to fit in. Then I wrote three promises in my journal to keep business in its place:
- My mom days are still 100% mom mode. Work doesn’t bleed into those days, apart from posting on social media or replying to customers and my team. Those days with the kids, full of adventures, chaos and sweet memories, are so special. I don’t want to be recording reels while they watch TV.
- I use my work days to do at least one restful thing for me. Exercise, a walk, a big shower, or prayer and Bible time, on top of working.
- I strategically plan these days. Not pack them, but plan them well, and let go of anything that isn’t on the plan for that day.
Why We Moved (and Finding “The One”)
We loved our old house, but it didn’t have a safe, fenced yard for the kids, and Adam and I had a dream of a trampoline and a play set. That one pain point outweighed everything else. We looked at 50-plus houses (I wore out our realtor!), and we weren’t desperate, so we were very particular in a truly bananas real estate market.
There were moments we almost didn’t move. The hardest was telling the man who mows our yard, who’s like family to us, that we might leave. My kids call his weekly visit “Mr. [his name] Day,” and it feels like Christmas to them. He cried, I cried, and I told Adam we couldn’t leave. (Good news: he’s doing our yard at the new house, too!) And our old house was where Sofia was born and where all of our kids’ firsts happened. I didn’t realize how sentimental I am until this experience.
Then one Sunday, as we walked out of church, a new listing hit my inbox, and before I even clicked in, I knew: “This is the house.” It had the fenced-in yard, so much character, built-ins, a gorgeous double front porch (I am such a porch girl), a guest house and a huge playroom. We saw it two hours later, the offer went smoothly, and it felt big to move into what we see as our last house before we downsize someday.
Read more: 5 Properties Later… What Wish I Knew Then That I Know Now — Real Estate Investing Edition!
Making It Ours: Renovations, Scripture and Paint
We’d never updated a house before, so this was new. We replaced the upstairs carpet, painted the entire interior and changed most of the light fixtures. Meanwhile, we listed our old house and did showings with three small kids, which is not for the faint of heart. We signed to accept the buyers’ offer the same morning the moving truck pulled in!
Something really special we did: before the painting and the new carpet, Adam and I wrote scripture on the walls in pencil and on the floors in Sharpie, themed around each room, and prayed over every space. Right now, sitting in my office, I’m surrounded by scriptures and prayers about my business.
For paint, I worked with a Showit website template shop customer of mine, Rebecca of Monarch Lane, to choose colors based on the light in each room and our floors (who knew there were so many shades of white?). Making the house ours, like Ethan’s blue wall, Sofia’s pink walls and my blue office, really helped with the sadness of leaving our old home.
Curious what shades of white we ended up choosing? We chose Sherwin Williams Greek Villa for the walls and Sherwin Williams Pure White for the trim!!
Thanks for Catching Up With Me
That’s the life side of the last seven months! We’re still surrounded by a few boxes, but we’re settling in. Thanks for catching up with me. I’ve missed this so much, and I’m so glad to be back.
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