Nobody tells you this, but every time you become a mom in a new way, you become a different version of yourself. Your priorities rearrange. Your capacity shifts. The way you think about time, about work, about what actually matters... it all changes.
When I got married, I instantly became a bonus mom. I loved that kid fiercely from the start, but I had never experienced babyhood. I did not know yet what that chapter would ask of me. Then I had three babies of my own, and each one reshaped who I was and how I ran my business in a completely different way. So here I am, a mom of four, running a design studio that looks nothing like it did six months ago before my youngest arrived.
That is not a failure. That is the whole point.
Every Baby Shifted Who I Was
With my first, I was working full time at an agency. She was in full-time daycare. And I was deep in postpartum depression. I was showing up every day trying to prove that nothing had changed, that I was still the same driven, ambitious woman I had always been. I just happened to also have a baby now. I was determined to keep up. Thankfully, I had a great maternity leave policy at the agency, which gave me space to recover. But coming back to work after that season was one of the hardest things I have ever done.
With my second, something cracked open. I was still at the agency, still had that good maternity leave policy, and I am grateful for that. But during that leave, I started taking slow steps toward figuring out how to go from freelance to studio. How to eventually build something of my own so I could leave the nine to five. I got honest about what I actually wanted my days to look like. I started saying no to things that did not align, even when the money was good. Something shifted in me that time. I stopped trying to keep up with someone else's version of success and started building my own.
And with my third? Everything was different. This time, I had the opportunity to plan my own maternity leave. A self-funded maternity leave. I got to decide when I stepped away, how long I was gone, and what coming back to work looked like on my own terms. That is something I never could have imagined when I was sitting in that agency postpartum with my first. It has been SO different with this third and final baby. And honestly, it is the thing I am most proud of building.
The Season You Are in Changes Everything
Six months ago, my business looked very different than it does today. Before this baby, I had more hours. I had a rhythm. I had a system that worked for that particular season.
Now I am in the newborn fog. My schedule has shifted again. My capacity is different. And I am rebuilding my systems around a new normal for the third time.
And here is what I want every mom in business to hear.
That is okay. Your business is allowed to shift with you. It is supposed to.
There are seasons of working late after bedtime because a launch is happening and the momentum is real. There are seasons of pulling back, doing the minimum to keep things running, and being fully present with your family. There are seasons of burnout where you have pushed too hard for too long and your body tells you to stop.
All of those seasons are valid. And all of them are temporary.
Moms Are the Ultimate Multitaskers. And That Makes Us Dangerous in Business.
I am not saying this to be cute. I mean it. The skills you build as a mom are the exact skills that make businesses run well.
You learn fast what actually moves the needle and what is just noise. You figure out how to automate the things that do not need your hands on them. You get serious about partnering with the right people because you literally cannot do it all yourself. And you stop pretending that working 12-hour days is the flex everyone made it out to be.
Moms learn how to prioritize. How to protect their time. How to make decisions quickly because there are four humans who need dinner and a business that needs to keep running.
That is not a limitation. That is a superpower.
Time Freedom Is the Whole Point
I did not leave the agency world to build another job that owns my schedule. I left because I wanted to be the one who decides when I work, how I work, and how much space my business takes up in my life on any given day.
Some days that means I am deep in a brand strategy session while the baby naps. Some days it means I close my laptop at 2 PM and do not open it again. Some days it means I am working at 5 AM because that is the only quiet hour in my house and I want to use it.
The freedom is not about working less. It is about choosing. Choosing when to push and when to pull back. Choosing which seasons to go all in and which ones to coast. Choosing to be at the school play, the soccer game, the random Tuesday afternoon where your kid just wants you on the couch.
That is what running a business as a mom is really about. Building something that gives you the life you actually want to live.
To the CEO Mom Reading This
Your business is going to look different in every season. What worked last year might not work this year. The schedule you had before your last baby might not exist anymore. And the version of you running the business right now is not the same version who started it.
All of that is okay. All of that is actually the point.
You are not behind. You are building something real, in real life, with real kids and real demands on your time. And the fact that you are still showing up? That is extraordinary.
Because success should feel as good as it looks.
Want to Hear More of My Story?
I have talked about this journey on two podcasts that I absolutely loved being a part of. If you want the longer, unfiltered version of how I went from agency life to running my own studio as a mom of four, these are the episodes to listen to.
Better. The Brand Designer Podcast with Jen Davis where I talk about making the leap from agency to studio and what it is really like balancing client work, motherhood, and all the messy in-between.
Made for Mothers Podcast with Mariah Stockman where I open up about redefining ambition in motherhood, building a thriving design business while raising four kids, and how community helped me make bold moves like self-funding my maternity leave.
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