Ah it’s almost here! Maternity leave! The best part about working for yourself is being in complete control of your maternity leave and time off. The worst part of working for yourself is trying to turn work off. Haha! It’s hard when work is your life, and always on your mind. This is my THIRD maternity leave. My first pregnancy was an easy one because I wasn’t working much anyway. It was after he was born that I committed to running a legit, profitable business. When my second was born, I was working full-time. I shot until about 38 weeks for sessions and 36 weeks for weddings. People were freaking out at my weddings when they found out I was over 36 weeks. Hilarious to see their faces watching me squatting, bending and moving around. AFTER I had Piper, I took at least 6 weeks before I took any sessions again.
I’ve learned a lot about my body and recovery the last few pregnancies. What works for me is different than what works for everyone. My first advice for planning an amazing maternity leave is
listen to your body + extra time is better than not enough time
This time I will shoot until 37 weeks. I had my first baby at 39 and second at 38.5. I felt great until I delivered my last two babies besides the extra aches and pains that come after being on my feet all day. This pregnancy I got SPD and had to slow down my schedule at 25 weeks to just one shoot a week. I love those extra few weeks to prepare and snuggle the babies I already have. After my sweet babe makes his debut, I will take 2 full months off. After two months I’ll ease back in for the next 2 months with half as many sessions. Basically I will begin taking sessions and weddings again this spring besides a few exceptions.
I’m so grateful for a KA team this time to make this possible. Rachel and Hiliary will be shooting weddings full-time as normal, Hiliary will be taking all my family and birth clients and Katie will be lead editor.
How to Plan Maternity Leave for Photographers
1. Plan Ahead
Block off your calendar as soon as you get pregnant so you’re prepared when emails start coming in around your due date.
Blog and prepare anything and everything you can ahead of time. By mid-July I had blogged ALL my educational posts through my maternity leave. I blog a photography tip every other week now, and I didn’t want to have to worry about it when my brain was mush and all I wanted to do was snuggle babies. I started creating training videos, documents and hiring assistants
2. Hire an Assistant
It can be a temporary or permanent position! The last thing you want to worry about when you’re preparing for a baby, recovering or just enjoying a new stage of life is email answering, blogging and other administrative tasks. Hire someone to keep the business running a few hours a week.
3. Declutter your Life
Declutter everything you can. Your house: closets, drawers, desks, under beds, etc. Your computer: desktop, folders, google drive, iCloud. Your phone: sort apps, delete unused apps, etc. The more you declutter, the better you’ll feel! Take a HUGE weight off of yourself and take advantage of that nesting phase. You won’t regret it.
4. Manage Cash Flow
Make sure you plan for a slow season in your business. I divide my total salary for the year into bi-weekly payments. I know that I have a few months where bookings are slower. Instead of paying myself more in the busy months and less in the slow months, its equally divided throughout a year and carried over into the next year. It’s how I’ve done it for a few years now, but it works perfectly for maternity leave as well.
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Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
November 9, 2017
Kylee Maughan
