33: Maternity Leave Prep: How I've planned to take 5 months off

In this episode, I am giving a detailed behind-the-scenes look into how I have prepared both myself and my business to take 5 months off for maternity leave, while still knowing that my business will remain profitable for 9 months from the date I go on leave. 

This episode is for women who are currently pregnant and want to turn off and be fully present with their body and baby when the time comes AND for women who own their own business currently, but who are aware that they want to step into business in the future. 

May it nourish your heart and set your mind at ease knowing that you can have it all - a fulfilling business and a motherhood where you never miss out on any of the small moments. 

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Come say hi to me on Instagram @merakimessaging or take a peek at my website for more information on our website copywriting, sales funnels, business energetics coaching programs (and so much more): https://merakimessaging.com/

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Transcript

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I have been planning to take five months off for maternity leave, and this is something that I have been planning ahead for a very long time. And there are five ways ultimately that I have been structuring my business, structuring my finances, my team. My processes, all the automation stuff to be able to give myself this flexibility. And today I wanted to dive into this because it is something that is coming up every way. It seems there are a lot of mothers in business that are facing these challenges of balancing motherhood, balancing business, balancing self care. And it's such a important topic let's dive in. Let's chat about it. Let's see how we can make both of them work with balance while still feeling fulfilled in the everyday. Welcome to Quantum Copy Cafe, the messaging and marketing podcast with a bit of energetic flair. If you are ready to ramp up your messaging and start telling a story that feels raw, organic and embodied, then you are in the right place. Hey, I'm Lyra, also known as Kerry. Five years ago, I walked out of a traumatic separation to start my own business. I desired the freedom and independence to manage my time. And since then I've risen from strength to strength, from wife to mother, to profitable business owner. I've seen firsthand what it takes to scale your business to seven figures, even as a solopreneur. It is my passion and purpose to help you create a brand that feels natural and in line with your life and your dreams. I'm I'm here to help you make more money with your story, without compromising on sole. Because your business has its own energetic blueprint, and its own way of showing up in the world. It is encoded to be different, and I'm here to show you how. And welcome back to another episode of Quantum Copy Cafe. Today, we are diving into something that's a little bit different. And it's a question that I have had coming up in my DMs on social media. It's something that's been coming up in conversation with friends and with fellow business owners, and also something that's popping up in emails. It's just something that we move through. All of us at some stage or another as mothers, other mothers that are stepping into motherhood, mothers that are stepping into motherhood for a second time, um, mothers that are navigating the world of business and the world of running a business while still trying to find the balance between showing up for the business itself and then showing up for a family. So today I really wanted to speak to a topic that has been quite close to my heart, something I've been. Preparing for, for a very long time, and that is how to prepare your business for maternity leave. Right? So there are five ways in which I have focused on doing this, and I'm going to dive into all of them in like a little bit more depth. Um, if you have any questions afterwards, please reach out to me in email. I'm happy to talk through it a little bit more and dive into it in a little bit more depth. If need be. Okay, so the first way in which I have been preparing my business for a very, very long time is the financial side of things. So a lot of my offers are high ticket offers that are, you know, the website copywriting package. The sales funnel package, the one on one coaching package, and about a year or so ago, I started offering up very lengthy payment plans. Not only did it make my work really accessible for entrepreneurs, specifically when they were navigating through all sorts of financial turbulence that's been happening on the wall on a global basis for the last while now. But it gave them some breathability, and then it gave me some space to be able to play. So up until we're now in July 2024, up until May 2025, I can see projected forward what will be coming into the business over the next few months. And this has allowed me the space to almost be able to take. Almost like a salary as if I was in a normal job, right? I can see what's coming in. I can see that all the expenses are going to be covered. And I have that settling in my being, knowing that I don't have to hustle, right? It's not that moving from month to month to month. And if I don't bring in a client, then there's no finances for expenses and that type of thing. That type of business has never worked for me. Um, I've never been someone that thrives in a space of. A fight or flight or when my nervous system is activated. So having that spaciousness and that breathability is something that it's so important for me. It's always been important for me. And it became even more important when it was time to plan for maternity. So having that financial stability, knowing that I can take off from the 1st of August up until the 1st of January, and knowing that I've got a couple months runway as well, just to get things back on the ground, to see who I am, how I've anchored myself in, in this Deeper level of awareness and identity in the next layer of motherhood. It's just creating that space. So creating space for yourself and your business is absolutely vital. Saying that, though, I know that that's not always accessible and not always possible for everyone. Right. And I want to be very much aware of that and speak to that. Like there are different financial situations that people go through, they navigate through. So wherever you are in your financial position at the moment, take a moment to think ahead and think, okay, what can I do today to make a difference for tomorrow for like future me, right? So are there some expenses that you need to maybe cut down on now? So that you can create a little bit of a savings bundle or like a bit of a nest egg to assist in those months where you want to take off. Because the last thing you want is to have all these financial burdens and financial strains, because it's not going to give you the time to be able to be present with your family. Right. And to be able to be present with your body, which has been able to hold space for so long and has just gone through a massive transformation and just, you know, birthing new life into the world. It's, it's a big. I'm going to call it a right of passion passage, both for you and for your little one. So just to be with yourself in the process to get to know the new little being that you are holding space for all of that is going to take your presence and your awareness. And you cannot do that if you are thinking about money, struggling and. You know, it's always on the back of your mind. So planning ahead financially is the big, big one. And so the 2 main ways to do that would be obviously the payment plan option or having financial savings that you can project in front of you now and know how you're going to kind of make compromises now to allow for more flexibility at a later stage. Okay, then the second thing that I've done a lot in my business is I've looked at automation, so I'm very big on serving and giving up nourishing content and tips and tricks and you know, everything that you need to be able to run your business soulfully and to feel confidence in what you're doing in an everyday basis. So. A few things that were really important to me is making sure that all my social media channels, my blogs, emails, podcasts, everything is automated. Everything is done ahead of time. And I know that it's going to continue to kind of like go live while I'm racing, right? Cause you also don't want your pipeline to go dry. You don't want to. I have everything dropped for four months and then suddenly you're out and you're okay, it's me again. And if that feels good for you and if you want that, then that's okay too. So that's the second thing is give yourself permission for whatever feels natural for you and whatever feels organic and aligned and you don't have to be showing up. In your business space. You can allow everything to just go silent while you are in that moment and taking a breather for yourself. So there's finances and there was automation. And then the third thing was having a team that you can rely on. So people that you trust enough to be able to go into your inbox, check your mails, check if there's any bookings. Funnel people into potential clients into the right direction and maintain your site and have extra support. The last thing you want is for clients to be reaching out to you if they've seen, say, for instance, a social media post or an email or something like that. And then to have that whole process go dry, right? You need to be able to, if you're going to keep the marketing aspects alive, then you need to keep the support aspects alive. So having people that you can trust and rely on is going to be. Really, really important. If you're wanting to outsource, for instance, the design of social media or the copywriting part of social media or emails or blogs, having a team that can do that is absolutely vital. Um, and if you are a little bit more picky about the design style and you know, how you want things to look and feel, then creating your own custom templates on something like Canva and then giving your team access is a great way to do that because you know, then all they need to do is insert. The photo, the copy, the brand colors, the fonts, everything is going to look the same and your team can manage that. So having a team is absolutely vital. It's going to be one thing that you will, it'll just, it'll give you that piece in the back of your mind, you know, like knowing that someone's managing it for you, someone you trust, and that it's just going to be carrying on at the same standard that you would deliver. Okay. Then if you are someone that offers. Custom one on one work, right? So if you do like premium design packages or website development, or, um, for instance, the copywriting package, like work that requires you to be actively involved in the business, I would create wait lists for this, a wait list for when you are ready to come back and give yourself a bit of time and a bit of a runway. So. For instance, if you aim to come back in, just send back, then give yourself a runway up until like the 1st of Feb, the end of like end of Jan, just so that you can dip your toes back into the sand, feel what it's like, stretch those muscles and you're not just diving straight back into client work. Okay, so waitlist is important, especially if you are wanting to capture your leads details. Not everyone can wait for custom projects and you can't expect someone to wait for like four or five months just to work with you unless, you know, they really want to. Um, but another way to do this, if for instance, you are a copywriter or a designer or someone that is more artistic and creative, a great way is to do templates and DIY options. So for instance, if they're wanting Um, your social media designs, then you've got custom curated Canva templates that are easy for them to plug and play, right? So you're able to still deliver a solution and maybe it's not the exact solution of them working with you one on one, but it is a solution that will get them through the challenge that they have, right? So get creative with it. Remember, at the end of the day, you want to be serving your community, you want to be serving your clients, you want to be giving them the best experience that you can give without having to think, okay, I need to still show up every single day, and I don't have a moment for, There are ways in which you can really curate a business experience that feels nourishing for them, but still gives you the time, the space and the breathability to just be with yourself, be with your family, be with your little baby and, you know, really take time off for yourself at the end of the day. That is why we are building these businesses, right? As mothers, as. Women as female business owners, we want to have the independence and the flexibility to be able to do what we need to do on a daily basis, whether that's fetching the kids from school or actually going to the ballet concerts and like watching or like taking the kids to the beach because it's a great day like we want to be able to have our calendar and our time on our hands and to be able to make these empowered decisions without thinking like we're tied to Um, doing And now the desk job, right? We leave the corporate world. We quit the cubicle. We start our own business to be able to give us that flexibility. So having that space and that planning and that forward thinking will allow us to really step into that without it feeling like it's just a little bit sticky or overwhelming. So if you are planning your family for this year, for the year ahead, and for the future, know that. It's just going to be the most incredible experience. And you can have both worlds. You can have a nourishing business that lights you up, that fulfills you in every way that allows you to be of service to others and to the world. And at the same time, you can be a great mother. You can show up with your kids. You can be present for all those beautiful milestones and moments. You don't have to miss out on anything. And that is why working from home, working for yourself, being able to build something that just feels so organic and natural and flexible to you. That is the ultimate gift you could ever give yourself in life. So as mentioned, if you have any further questions about this, because it is a really big topic, um, I know that. Everyone's business is a little bit different. Not everyone's business looks the same, but if you are wanting to dive deeper into this, if you have some questions about it, please do reach out via email. Come connect with me on Instagram. I would love to chat to you about this a little bit more and know that wherever you are in the world, you are so held. You are so loved, and you are so ready for this next step. Until next week. Whispers in my head What you gonna do?