How I Planned for Maternity Leave While Running a Successful Consultancy

When you run a consultancy—especially one that prides itself on being lean, where your experience and brain are the competitive advantages—the idea of stepping away feels literally impossible.

No backup team.

No coverage.

No corporate HR policies to lean on.

Just you, your clients, and the systems you’ve built (or the ones you haven’t gotten around to yet).

With my second baby on the way, I knew I didn’t have a cushy FMLA policy or a severance package to lean on. It was just me. And I knew I needed to do things differently.

I owed it to my new baby to have some real, dedicated time off.

Not half-working.

Not catching up late at night.

But still keeping the business warm and the lights on for my clients.

Here’s how I prepared, and while it’s not perfect (kind of like parenthood), I’m taking it as it comes, trusting the systems I’ve built and the help I've hired, and I know we’ll come out stronger on the other side.

1. I planned around my bandwidth and paused new leads to protect it.

   I got real about my capacity. I chose projects I knew I could complete by / maintain during my “off” time (whatever that would look like). I also paused lead gen so I could focus fully on priority numero uno: existing client work. It was an intentional reset, because although it sounds simple, I typically operate in the “you can do it all” state of mind, and that just wasn’t true this time.

   
   

2. I envisioned the leave I wanted, then built the support to match.

   I sat down and asked myself: What would an ideal maternity leave feel like for me and my family? That vision became the blueprint for what (and who) I needed to keep things moving.

   
   

   I was looking for someone who could keep the lights on, and maybe also help plan for what comes next. Luckily, I found that person in my immediate network (score!). She’s serving my monthly Salesforce clients, supporting past clients as needed, and helping with long-deferred internal projects.

   
   

3. I systematized my brain.

   No more “I’ll remember” or tracking tasks in my head. My day-to-day operations are now systematized with scale in mind.

   
   

   I created workflows and implemented work management tools so that nothing falls through the cracks. My assistant knows what to prioritize, and I can see everything I need in one glance (right now, and when I return at full speed).

   
   

4. I created a post-leave runway.

   Even without active marketing, my work keeps circulating through word of mouth and online/social engagement. So I’m building a waitlist because when I return, I want to hit the ground running. And the right clients are already finding me.

So all this to say: I’m still around, just not everywhere, doing everything, all at once.

And that’s by design.

Despite what hustle culture might suggest, taking time for family isn’t a disruption. Not for me, and not for my clients. It’s actually making the business stronger.

The systems are working.

The support is working.

And best of all? I’m not the only one holding it all together anymore.

So I’ll be back soon. If you want to reserve your spot for CRM strategy, checkups, builds, or cleanup projects, the waitlist is open, and we’ll be ready.