158: What My 5-ish Month Maternity Leave from My Business Was Really Like (the “day in, day out” life on maternity leave, emotional rollercoasters, and changing desires as a new mama!)

Last week we talked about early motherhood from a postpartum life perspective, now let’s talk about those early days from a BUSINESS perspective. I’m sharing all the nitty gritty details of my 5 month maternity leave. (It was about 5 ½ months total - including the time before Colin was actually born, which we’ll get into in this episode!) On episode #139 (What I Did To Prepare For A 2 ½ Month Maternity Leave As An Online Business Owner), I told you all about how I planned a maternity leave from my business! Well, now maternity leave is over, and Colin is 6 months old! I’ll be sharing… - What taking so much time away from my business was like - The hilariousness of the early days of my maternity leave while waiting on Colin to be born - The experience of working a little bit but not “a lot” (because you never really “stop” as a business owner) - 3 ways I’ve built a business that allows for this much time away while still thriving - How did all my planning actually play out in real life - How much I worked/didn’t work - What it was like executing a Black Friday sale while on leave (and what I’d do differently next time) - How my desires for my work life changed when becoming a mom - My team members review of the leave - Plus, plenty of random tips for you throughout! This is in no way a COMPLETE picture of my maternity leave. I wish I could share every important detail, but the truth is… I forget a lot of things and this outline is already 10 pages as it is. I hope you’ll enjoy this casual and very real episode. And, I pray it helps you in some way as you plan time away from your business, whatever that looks like for you! Links mentioned in the episode: - Get the full show notes for this episode here: https://elizabethmccravy.com/158 - Episode #139 - Details on planning my maternity leave: https://elizabethmccravy.com/139 - Episode #158 - All about my postpartum journey: https://elizabethmccravy.com/157 - Episode #148 - Colin’s Birth Story: https://elizabethmccravy.com/colins-birth-story/ Are we connected on Instagram? I’d love to hear what you think of this episode and anything else you’d love to hear covered on the podcast! https://www.instagram.com/elizabethmccravy/ And as always, please share this episode with a friend who you think would benefit! Thanks for being here! If you're a new business owner who still doesn't have a website yet, I made something for you. It's a free 15-page guide that walks you through exactly what you need to launch your first website — what to skip, what actually matters, and the five steps to go from zero to live. No coding, no big budget, no perfection required. Plus you'll get 20% off my Showit templates inside! Get it FREE at https://elizabethmccravy.com/ Need some extra pages to improve or add onto your Showit website, BUT you’re not in the market for an entirely new template? You need my Add On Templates for Showit! You'll find add ons like speaker pages, podcast pages, quiz lead magnets, favorite things pages, Link in Bio pages, and more. Use the code “BBPOD”to save 15% on your add on or full site template for a limited time: https://elizabethmccravy.com/shop