5 Changes to Make to Your Business & Work if You're Expecting a Baby

Let’s get one thing clear first: Motherhood isn’t a pause. It’s a full-body, full-soul rebirth. And the truth is—your business should change with you when you make this beautiful transformation.

When I had my first baby, I tried to “ease” back into the business I built from scratch at 24. Pantry Fuel had been my first baby in so many ways.

We delivered meals before Blue Apron was even a thing.

We served new widows, overwhelmed parents, folks recovering from surgery.
Our customers needed us.

And yet... my whole being whispered:
This no longer fits.

Not because I didn’t care. I still did. But because I’d changed—and the culture around me hadn’t.

I couldn’t work 8-hour days anymore.
I couldn’t show up on-demand, notifications pinging every second.
I couldn’t be “on” for everyone anymore. If you’re pregnant or planning for a baby right now—here’s what I wish someone had told me then:

1. Build for the energy you’ll have, not the energy you used to hustle with.

Forget planning for maternity leave like a vacation.
Your entire nervous system changes after birth. Brain scans prove it.
You won’t want to hustle like before—and you shouldn’t have to.

Shift to make:
→ Ditch high-maintenance offers that rely on you being “on.”
→ Start mapping out ways to bring in income without you showing up.
→ Automate 80% of your backend before baby arrives.

2. Prepare to need more softness and slowness than you think.

It’s not weakness. It’s wisdom.
After I gave birth, I couldn’t even want to open my laptop for hours a day. I wanted white space, warmth, and no urgency.

Shift to make:
→ Reduce your calendar to 50% capacity (or less!) even after maternity leave. Ease into your work.
→ Create “white space windows” in your week for nothing.
→ Build margin into everything—especially launches and delivery timelines.

3. Design systems that don’t rely on you. At all.

You’re building a life—not just a business.
And while two incomes may still be necessary (they were for us!), that doesn’t mean you have to be the one holding it all up.

Shift to make:
→ Systematize everything: onboarding, delivery, follow-up, content.
→ Use templates, AI, and simple automations (even if you're not techy).
→ Get ruthless about letting go of things only you can do.

4. Accept that your creativity will shift—don’t resist it.

Your brain is literally being rewired.
And you know what? That’s powerful.
Yes, I sold my company. But I also built this one—one that helps other women transform their business model to match their new season. I created frameworks that live on without me, passive offers that support while I rest, and messaging that honors both my ambition and my motherhood.

Shift to make:
→ Give yourself full permission to feel different about your work.
→ Start documenting your process.
→ Lean into softer creativity: short audio notes instead of podcasts, slower mornings instead of packed full, intuitive writing instead of posting for trends.

5. Stop trying to return to who you were. The maiden is gone—and that’s sacred. It's also OK to grieve that.

You’re not broken. You’re becoming. And you don’t have to “bounce back” into a work identity that doesn’t feel like home anymore. You're an entire new being.

Shift to make:
→ Redefine success: It might look like naps. Or present play. Or creative fire at 2AM, not 9AM, after a nursing session.
→ Design your business model for this version of you—not the maiden you were.
→ Know that honoring your transformation isn’t a business risk. It’s your greatest wisdom. Your superpower, if you choose to harness it—more intuition, empathy, compassion, and strength.

Don’t wait until the baby arrives to make these changes. The sooner you start to build a business that supports your rebirth, the more ease you’ll have living it.

And if you need help? Book a 1:1 Strategy Session with me and you can get this new business model set up in about 8 weeks. I help women move from hustle-built business to slow, sustainable income that gives you freedom—ones that honor motherhood, not ignore it.

You're allowed to change it all, or pivot in an way that honors this new season for you and your family.
And you’re allowed to want to.
Most of all? You’re allowed to build something beautiful from this version of you.

Don't forget, the transformation from maiden to mother is your superpower if you choose to honor it.