If you’ve ever had a baby and thought, “I literally cannot do my business and motherhood at the same time,” this episode is for you. Motherhood has changed my business, and I said those exact words out loud to my husband about two to three months after my first son was born.
And I meant them in that moment. I was overwhelmed. I was so in love with this tiny human, and I honestly just wanted to be a mom. I did not want to think about my business at all.
And here I am now, almost five years later, three kids in, still running the business I’ve had for a decade. And I have so much I want to say about what that journey has actually looked like.
So this is the final episode in my “10 Years of Business” series on this podcast. I wanted this one to be a really honest, candid conversation about how becoming a mom has changed the way I run my business. Not a highlight reel and not a “how I do it all” episode, because I truly do not do it all. Just the real stuff that I think often goes unsaid in motherhood.
I have four real ways motherhood has changed my business, with “befores” and “afters.” Then I’ll end with three pieces of advice for moms who run businesses.
So whether you’re pregnant, newly postpartum, or have been doing this for a while and just need someone to say some honest things, I think this episode will be really helpful.
And as always, this is my experience. I’m not speaking for every business-owning mom. My kids are still really young, but I do think so much of what I’ve lived isn’t talked about enough.
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A little context before we start
I’ve had this business for a decade (designing websites and brands, teaching through courses, hosting this podcast, and in the early days doing social media management and marketing work). I had zero kids when I started at 22.
I got pregnant with my first about five years in. Since then, I’ve had three kids in about four and a half years. My younger two are just 16 months apart. I’ve never had full-time childcare. My kids have never been in full-time daycare, and I’ve never had a full-time nanny.
Since becoming a mom, my work has taken a step back, because I wanted it to.
My husband’s career has also shifted a lot during this time, so we’ve navigated all of this together.
The key thing is: I’ve done business before and after motherhood and they are very different.
Even though it’s the same business, I don’t run it the same way. I don’t think about it the same and I don’t focus on it the same.
1. Motherhood has changed my business slowly over time
There’s this expectation that you’ll have a baby and then go back to everything exactly as it was before. But that’s not how it works. Motherhood changes your brain. It reshapes your priorities. You are not the same after.
Your work will change—sometimes a little, sometimes a lot—and usually gradually.
For me, it wasn’t an overnight shift. It was a slow process of adapting and refining.
I remember telling a friend recently that when I had my first baby, within the first couple months, I said:
“I cannot do business and motherhood. I don’t want to do both.”
I was overwhelmed. It felt like everything was falling apart even though I had planned well.
Even though I had a solid maternity leave plan and executed it well, I think it was more the mental overwhelm than anything else. And also this deep desire, as I was learning to be a mom, to just be a mom.
My heart wanted that in that crazy transition time. I was so in love with my son, I still am, and I didn’t want to focus on work. I just wanted to focus on him and everything that comes with becoming a mom.
For me, going from zero to one child was the hardest transition because it’s the most drastic change in your life and in your business.
And that’s what I would say to you too: if you have one and you’re thinking about having more, the hardest transition in your business will probably be zero to one. With one to two, you’ve already done a maternity leave. You already have systems in place. You’ve likely delegated more. You’ve learned a lot.
So in many ways, it gets easier, not harder, for your business as you add more kids. The transitions still happen, but they’re different.
Now looking back, I know that what I needed wasn’t to quit. I just needed time and space for my capacity to grow.
And it did.
Looking back, I wasn’t failing… I was adjusting. I learned how to manage both my business and my kids, and to love both, with my kids very clearly being the bigger priority.
But again, it was a slow process of refining and editing over time.
My brain changed. God changed my priorities and my desires as I became a mom. And my life needed to be reworked.
So if you’re in that place, whether after one baby or after three, I just want you to know: it’s normal for your life to change. It’s normal for what used to work to not work the same way anymore, especially in business.
Some things you were doing, or the way you were running your business, might not feel like they fit anymore.
Read more: 3 Business Strategies For Moms Who Want To Run a Successful Business While Staying Home With Kids
2. Before my first baby I thought I was already at my capacity with work. Motherhood showed me I wasn't even close.
This is where I’ll say that motherhood is actually a business superpower.
Being a mom has shown me that I’m more capable in my work life than I ever realized because I’ve learned (and am still learning) how to get more done in less time.
I’ve watched my capacity grow and the same will happen for you. If you’re feeling like, “I can’t possibly run my business with kids,” or “I can’t do this with two or three kids,” just wait.
You’ll likely watch your heart expand with your kid and your capacity expand in your work. And your desires might shift too.
With each child, I’ve seen my capacity grow in all kinds of ways, both inside and outside of work.
I remember so vividly, because my youngest is only about nine months old now, when I had just two kids. I would be “on” all day on my mom days, taking care of my two boys while pregnant with my third.
I loved it so much but I also had this recurring thought:
“I don’t know how I could possibly take care of three kids.”
There were moments where I thought, “I can barely handle these two. I’m already outnumbered. This is so hard. Being even more outnumbered is going to feel impossible.”
Not every day… but definitely in those harder moments. Especially in that late afternoon stretch, around four or five o’clock, when everyone’s hungry, tired, needs are piling up, and you’re exhausted.
And I once heard someone explain this concept and it applies here really well. They said that God doesn’t grace you for something until He’s given it to you to manage.
So if you feel that strong sense of, “I can’t possibly…”—whether it’s running a business as a mom, or doing what you’re doing now but with two kids, or three, or four—God calls you to something, and then He gives you the grace for it once it’s actually in your hands.
I didn’t feel like I could manage three kids on my own until I was literally managing three kids on my own. No help. Figuring out how to get three kids down for naps, navigating rest time while my husband was at work, being strategic, problem-solving, managing everyone’s emotions.
And I see that same thing in my business.
Right now, and I’ve shared this earlier in this series, I run my business on one day a week. And I’m not kidding. It is truly one day. Not one day plus evenings, not early mornings, not squeezing things into nap times. Just one day.
Will it always be like this? No, I don’t think so.
But when I first started thinking about being home more with my kids, because that’s where I felt led, and it’s what I wanted for my family, I remember thinking and telling others:
“I cannot possibly run my business on fewer hours. I’m already at the lowest possible. I can’t go any lower.”
I wanted it to work but I didn’t believe it could.
And now I’m here and it’s working.
That’s what I mean: God guides you toward something, and then gives you the capacity for it as you step into it. Your capacity grows as you say yes and take action.
So your capacity will grow. It will grow in how you run your business. It will grow with more children. It will grow as your kids get older and your life changes.
Read more: How to Navigate Becoming a Mom When You Already Have a Business You Love
3. Becoming a mom taught me how to use my time better.
Before kids, I had more time for work. Now I have less time but it’s maximized. And becoming a mom taught me how to use my time better.
Like I said, my work hours have decreased with each child. Again, this is what I wanted, and that desire really shifted for me when I went from one to two kids.
With just my oldest, I felt like I had a good balance and was working more. But after my second, I realized that setup wasn’t going to work for us anymore. I wanted to be home even more.
And again, everyone’s experience is different. Some people actually go full speed with their business after each child. I have friends who’ve had that experience.
But for me, this is how it looked:
After my first, I went from working every day (with a calendar fully my own) to taking a long six-month maternity leave, then working about three-ish days a week.
After my second, it became more like two to two-and-a-half days.
And now, I’m at one day a week.
And I’m productive. That time is maximized.
I’ve always been someone who loves productivity and systems, but becoming a mom, especially working from home with very little childcare, forced those systems to evolve.
There have been weeks where, in that one workday, I’ve gotten done what used to take me two to three days within six to seven hours, even with nursing breaks.
I’ve had days where I’ve thought, “Wow, I got so much done.”
But that’s not every day.
There have also been days where I feel like I floundered, didn’t use my time well, and didn’t really move anything forward because I’m still learning which tasks truly matter and which ones can be let go when I only have one workday.
But overall, becoming a mom has taught me how to use my time better.
I’m more productive in everything from laundry systems at home to running a business in limited hours. And I’m so grateful for that.
I’ve said this before on the podcast, but being a mom can be a masterclass in getting more done in less time if you let it refine you, instead of resisting it.
And that refining can feel hard. It can feel exhausting. But it’s a good kind of growth.
A pre-baby example of being less productive
Okay, a quick example (this is non-business, but I have to share it).
Before having kids… I would take forever to do my workouts.
Not because I was working out for a long time, I was usually working out for 30 to 40 minutes, but because the whole process was so leisurely in my pre-mom life.
I’ve worked from home for about 10 years now, so back then I’d have the house to myself while my husband was at work. And my workouts would look like this:
I’d think, “Oh, maybe I’ll work out around two.”
I’d slowly drink my pre-workout at home. I’d take my time getting dressed for the gym. I might pause and think, “I’m going to sip this a little slower… maybe check my inbox… maybe post something on social media before I go.”
Then I’d drive 15-30 minutes to the gym, depending on traffic. I’d take my time getting checked in, getting set up, and then I’d work out for 30 to 40 minutes.
Then I’d drive home, take forever to shower, get ready again, and ease back into my day.
So what was technically a 30–40 minute workout often turned into a two- to three-hour block of my day.
Not every time… but often enough.
And that’s what I mean when I say that pre-kids, even working for myself, I wasn’t working full eight-hour days. I had a lot more unstructured, inefficient time (like workouts that somehow took hours).
Now, in contrast, I still work out regularly, but it looks very different.
Now I either work out at home or at our neighborhood gym, which is about a two-minute drive. Usually at home, though.
I don’t do pre-workout anymore because I’ve been pregnant or nursing for what feels like five years straight. I get dressed quickly, start a workout video on my laptop or phone, and go.
We don’t even have a full home gym. It’s just our front room. I pull out weights as I need them and keep moving.
Now the whole process is basically the length of the workout plus maybe 10 extra minutes.
So what used to take two to three hours now takes about 30 to 40 minutes.
And I know that’s a silly example, but the shift is real, and it shows up everywhere.
Now, a 40-minute workout actually takes 40 minutes.
And the same shift has happened in my business.
I spend less time wondering and more doing because I don’t have the luxury of wasting time anymore. So I stopped wasting it.
Read more: Why Traditional Productivity Hacks Don’t Work For Moms (5 Things to Remember Instead!)
4. Before kids I was in sprint mode when it came to goals and achieving things. Now I think about my business in decades, not just quarters.
That doesn’t mean I don’t still set quarterly goals. I actually love that and still do it. I just set goals for this quarter as I’m recording this.
But my perspective has widened.
At some point, I learned the phrase: your career is a marathon, not a sprint. And that has been so helpful especially in seasons where work takes a step back for your kids.
Before kids, I was very much in sprint mode. I got really attached to how launches performed, how sales went, how promotions landed. Sometimes my mood was tied to how things were going financially in my business.
Now, I’m more relaxed.
I can see the bigger, longer picture.
I know I can’t do everything: not all at once, not all today, and definitely not while also being a mom, a wife, a friend, and everything else I care about.
The best way I can describe it is this:
It’s like learning which balls are safe to drop.
We’re all juggling things in life: some of those balls are glass, and some are plastic. The glass ones will break if you drop them. The plastic ones will bounce. For me, my kids, my marriage, my faith—those are glass.
My business? It has more plastic balls.
So I ask: what can drop right now and still bounce back later?
That shift has changed everything.
It makes me excited for the future, not just what’s happening right now, but what could happen years down the road. I don’t know what my business will look like in 10 years. It’s already changed so much from year one to year ten. So imagine year ten to year twenty. I’m sure it’ll keep evolving.
And thinking long-term means it’s okay if there are seasons where I step back and things look different. There will be other seasons where I step forward again: launching more, working more, building more.
It’s a marathon.
And in a marathon, the pace and intensity change at different points.
A conversation with my grandmother
Nothing has illustrated this more for me than a conversation I had with my grandmother.
She’s 89 years old. She has four children, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. A huge legacy.
Growing up, I always thought of her as a very successful career woman. She was a buyer for Kirkland's when the company started, and she worked there for many years. She also had a successful career as an interior designer.
But after I became a mom, I started wondering:
Was she doing all of that while raising four kids?
So I asked her one day, “Were you working in those roles when your kids were little?”
And she said, “No, honey. I was a stay-at-home mom for years.”
That surprised me because I had always thought of her as a career woman but her career came later. She stayed home when her kids were young, and still went on to build something incredible.
She literally went back to school for interior design and then did that amazing, successful career after her kids were small. And it was such a great reminder for me and it can be a reminder for you as well that careers are a long game and you might look at someone else's success and assume they were grinding nonstop for decades, but you don't see the seasons of their life where they stepped back.
That’s something I’ve really learned. I don’t need to be in constant sprint mode when it comes to goals and achievement. I can think about my business in terms of longevity.
And I don’t regret, even a little bit, stepping back to be with my kids while they’re small.
For me, that’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made—for our family, for my personal goals, and even for this business. I know not everyone has that option, and I feel incredibly grateful that I do.
Advice for moms with businesses
So now I want to share three pieces of advice for moms who run businesses (knowing what I know now about how motherhood has changed my business).
1. You’re allowed to step back or step away
For a season, or even permanently.
That doesn’t mean you’re not ambitious. It doesn’t mean you failed. It means you’re choosing something different—on purpose. And you may have to make that decision again and again. You might even change your mind later.
This looks different for everyone.
Maybe it’s taking a longer maternity leave.
Maybe it’s reducing to four days a week.
Maybe it’s closing your business entirely to stay home with your kids.
I’ve seen many women do that recently. Whatever it looks like for you, if you feel pulled in that direction, I just want you to hear this:
You’re allowed to choose something that looks less impressive on the outside. You’re allowed to choose something that doesn’t look traditionally “ambitious.”
And honestly, that hidden, everyday work of raising small children can be harder than what you’re doing in your business. It’s incredibly fulfilling but also exhausting. The days are long, and the years are short.
I truly don’t think people regret spending more time with their kids when they’re little.
The other day, I was laying in bed with my youngest, Sophia. She’s eight months old. She was crawling all over me after a full day together, and I was just looking at her and just so overwhelmed with gratitude that I get to be her mom.
And I had this thought:
There is no amount of work I could have done, or money I could have made, that would have been worth sacrificing this time with her over the past eight months.
And just as a disclaimer: I know not everyone is in a financial position for this to work, or for this to feel true for you. And it hasn’t always been true for me either.
Like I mentioned earlier, my experience with childcare, and how much time I’ve had with each of my babies, has looked different every time. My work has required different things in different seasons, and our finances have looked different each time as well.
So I’m really just speaking from my current situation.
As a third-time mom, I see things differently now. I’ve seen how fast it went by with my boys, and because of that, it felt really important for me to be home with her full-time (at least in this season while she’s little).
Right now, my boys go to preschool two days a week, and I’m home with her the rest of the time (working one day a week in the margins). And as I look back on the last almost nine months with her, and even further back to when I started stepping back more after Colin was born, and even more after Ethan… I have zero regrets.
So what I would say to anyone listening is: if you feel God calling you more toward motherhood than toward your work or business, listen to that. Take small steps toward the change you want to make.
It’s okay to want something different than what you originally thought you wanted. It’s okay to choose something that maybe doesn’t make perfect sense financially on paper, but aligns more with your heart.
Again, only if you can make it work. And I know I’ve said this a few times, but I want to be clear that I’m just sharing what’s been true for me.
But in these past almost nine months of having Sophia home with me, there is nothing this business could have done that would have made me wish I had worked more instead of being with her.
I’m just so grateful I’ve had this time with her.
2. What you want will likely change
You’re allowed to change your mind.
Too often, we treat non-permanent decisions like they’re permanent. They’re not.
You’re allowed to think you want your motherhood and business to look one way and then decide you want something different.
Maybe your family changes because of another child.
Maybe your kids get older.
Maybe something shifts in your health or your life circumstances.
Whatever it is… you are allowed to adjust.
From my own experience, what I wanted did change.
What I thought I would want when I was pregnant, and before becoming a mom, looked very different from what I actually wanted once I had one child. And then when my second was born, things shifted again in how I approached my work.
So don’t see that desire for change as a negative thing.
Embrace it. Pray about it. Talk it through with your spouse, your friends, your family. Process it.
And then, like I said earlier… take action.
God leads you, and then He graces you. So if you feel a pull toward something different, that’s not weakness, that’s direction. Listen to it.
And know that it’s normal and healthy for your desires to change, because motherhood really does change and refine you.
3. Use your CEO skills in your motherhood
This might feel like a shift in direction and honestly, it could be its own episode.
If you’re a business owner, you already have valuable skills. Try applying some of those same skills to your family life.
It can actually make motherhood feel lighter and more intentional. We don’t run our businesses without direction… so why do we sometimes run our homes that way?
Here are a few examples:
Family calendar: Put real effort into managing it well, the same way you would your business calendar.
Meal planning & groceries: Try systems that make things smoother and more consistent.
Goal setting: Treat your family like something worth planning for intentionally. For example, this year, for the first time, I set family goals with my husband using the same structure I use in my business. We asked ourselves things like:
- What do we want to work on as a family this year?
- What do we want to grow in?
- How do we want to spend time together?
Then, we created actual goals around that.
Household systems: For things like laundry and dishes, create simple systems, just like you would in your business.
Teaching your kids: Many of you are natural teachers (I definitely am), so bring that into your motherhood in small, meaningful ways. For me, that doesn’t look like sitting down with a workbook (my kids don’t love that). It looks like teaching through everyday moments, conversations, and simple activities.
Right now, for example, one of our family goals is to memorize six Bible verses this year. We focus on one for about two months at a time. It’s something we’re doing together. It gives direction. It creates intentional moments. And to be clear… my four-year-old is the only one actually memorizing them.
I would love to ask you this: what are some things you love about your business, and what are you good at within your business? And how could you apply those skills to your family?
If it’s a business skill you enjoy, it can actually be really fun to bring that into your motherhood too.
And I know, in theory, this might sound like adding more work to motherhood. But if you ever feel like you’re in that “chicken with your head cut off” mode—where there’s no structure, no plan, and you’re just trying to get through the day—then applying some of these business skills can actually make motherhood feel lighter and more enjoyable.
Read more: 7 Powerful Thoughts or Affirmations for Working Moms
Motherhood has changed my business, but I also want to say that being a mother is amazing. It’s a gift from God.
God chose you to raise your kids. Not someone else. You.
And you have what it takes.
God hasn’t given you more than you can handle with Him (even though I know it can feel that way sometimes). I definitely have days where it feels like too much.
But it’s okay to shift.
It’s okay to step back.
It’s okay to want something different than what you once wanted.
Your business will still be there and so will you. You might just be a more refined, more capable, more grounded version of you than before you became a mom.
To close, I want to share a poem I love by Jessica Urlichs from her book They Bloom Because of You. I’ve shared her work on the podcast before, and this poem really captures so much of what motherhood and this season can feel like.
“They Bloom Because of You”
You can’t do all the things
and I’m not saying not to try
but in this season of thriving here
over there might look a bit dry
You can’t give yourself to everything
you can’t pour from an empty cup
It’s hard to get the to-do list down
with little hands reaching up
I know that you’ve been scrolling
seeing deep cleaning and fancy meals
and kids dressed in matching outfits
their rooms with aesthetic feels
But I haven’t had time to wash my sheets
there are weeds all through the yard
I’m trying to get some work done
and in this season, it’s really hard
So I think we need to normalize
while you’re helping small ones grow
that this is important work too
and you might not think it shows
If I walked into your home right now
with mess all over the floor
a baby bouncing on your hip
and rubbish at the door
I’d feel completely welcomed
I’d know I wasn’t alone
Mothering isn’t housekeeping
it’s not what makes a house a home
It isn’t juggling all the things
It’s a constant start and stop
Forgetting, remembering, overwhelm
it’s knowing which balls we can drop
So I see you in the unseen
in this season and what it brings
Being superwoman does not mean
doing all the things
It’s okay for weeds to grow
around all the things you do
Focus on the flowers
they bloom because of you
I just love that.
It really captures so much of what this is: motherhood, business, all of it. It’s not about doing everything. It’s about knowing which things matter most. That's how motherhood has changed my business.
Even right now, as I’m recording this, I have about 20 minutes left in my workday. My husband is about to start a therapy session working from home, and I’m about to go spend time with my kids. Then I’ll come back and work a little more after.
It’s a lot of give and take.
And it’s a beautiful journey.
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