Women & Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About!
Women & Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About!
Planning Parental Leave for Entrepreneurs with Audrey Hutnick
What if you were a small business owner, about to have a baby, and had no idea how to keep your business running while taking time off to focus on your family?
In this episode of Women and Money: The Shit We Don’t Talk About, we are joined by Audrey Hutnick, founder of Small Wave Consulting, who specializes in helping women entrepreneurs create business strategies that work for life’s big transitions—like maternity leave. We talk through the real struggles women business owners face when planning for parental leave, from the stress of stepping away to the guilt of putting yourself first.
Whether you’re a new mom, a business owner, or someone juggling caregiving responsibilities, this episode is your go-to guide for making bold moves that support both your business and your family goals.
Episode Highlights and Timestamps:
00:00 Intro and Personal Reflections
00:13 Challenges of Taking Time Off as a Business Owner
00:47 Vision and Aspirations for Time Off
02:00 Introducing Audrey and Her Expertise
05:07 Audrey's Background and Small Wave Consulting
07:02 Planning for Maternity Leave
18:44 Emotional and Physical Shifts Post-Maternity
21:04 Starting a New Business During Maternity Leave
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Barb: [00:00:00] Maggie, it's so interesting how we've been working together for like four or five years, whatever. And really we have not taken much time off. To never together, but even individually, you know, a few days here or there. It's because you're afraid that you got to keep all these plates spinning as a business owner. And you just don't think anyone could step in and do it like you do it.
Maggie: Yeah, and it's definitely something sometimes worse, but it's also like when you're growing and you're so in it and it's at such a growing stage, you really do need to be there. Two weeks, like uninterrupted, I don't think we've done,
Barb: No. Even if one of us took time off for a little vacay, we always have our computer with us and we're in contact with one another.
Maggie: it's not uninterrupted. That's definitely though on the vision board.
Barb: yeah, well, at some point, but we should be able to, right? We should be able to all business owners should be able to, especially if what they're going to have a [00:01:00] baby.
Could you imagine
Maggie: Gotta see the baby.
Barb: you want to have a baby and more women are opening businesses every day. Right. And women want to have families. Can you do it both? I mean, when I had you and Ed, I had a corporate job and there were benefits where I had limited time off. I think I told you we could use our unused sick time, but there was no paid maternity leave.
They would hold your job for you for a certain amount of time.
Maggie: Yeah.
Barb: Before you knew it, you were back to work, expected to do the work that you were doing prior to maternity leave. And let's face it, you are a different person once you have a baby and you're responsible for a whole new human life and your body has gone through major transformations
Maggie: Yeah. So being a business owner and running everything and taking that, minimum two weeks, much less like, six, 12, 18, whatever resonates with you that time off seems overwhelming to [00:02:00] do. And so I'm glad we are able to have Audrey on today as she provides some of those resources. And I think it's so interesting because I can see how it would be so overwhelming to back into.
I just love how she gave great tips that aren't just like run really fast, while you're pregnant to pre batch every single thing so you can take that time off, cause that's not efficient. And we know you having a baby or adopting a baby, anything can happen. You could be in the NICU for a while.
It could be early. It could be late. It could be, you want more time off. And so it's not just like, I'm going to Italy, I'm coming back, I'll get back to it. You're back with that new mindset and it might. You might need longer off. It might be shorter, you want to be over prepared.
If you just did that pre batching and just have to get started when that batching ends, that's not always efficient.
Barb: It's a lot. And she also mentioned it's also for, you know, women, if they're all of a sudden in a caretaking role and we know all about that, right? You never know when it's going to happen, but it's going to happen at [00:03:00] some point because caretaking lands on the daughter, the eldest daughter or the daughter in the family.
You've experienced it yourself, Maggie, and you kind of have to drop what you're doing and attend to that. So at any point in time as a business owner and you need to take a period of time off to attend to something really critical or really joyful in your family that you want to spend time with
Maggie: or just sabbatical.
Barb: So what Audrey does is she's got this super cool consulting where she helps you plan and prepare and be ready. When and if you want to take that time off,
Maggie: Yeah, and I think being pregnant, at least for like 30 ish weeks and you can prepare. I feel like caregiving is even harder as sometimes it's just like today someone fell and now it's on you and you're like I've got meetings today. But, it's amazing to have someone on with her expertise to come in and help and support you along the way, really break it down, eat that elephant one bite at a time and really figure out that next best direction for you and your business.
I think [00:04:00] this is gonna be a great episode and I'm excited for everyone to tune in.
Barb: and I'm excited. We're offering this information So women know now they have options. There are resources out there. So let's see what Audrey has to say.
Gloria Steinem once said, we will never solve the feminization of power until we solve the masculinity of wealth. Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen are the team at purse strings that will help you navigate the ins and outs of financial independence so that you can be financially fearless. This is women in money, the shit we don't talk about.
Maggie: Coming up on today's show, we have Audrey. And when I met Audrey, I knew she had something that we had to share with our communities of women, as we have so many new moms out there. We have so many business owners. And so I was so excited to have Audrey come join us today.
So welcome, Audrey. [00:05:00] We'd love to have you just start by introducing, who you are, what you do and where you're located.
audrey: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much for having me. My name is Audrey Hutnick. So I'm here in Chicago, Illinois, and I'm coming as founder of Small Wave Consulting. And so our focus has really been on parental leave consulting for small business owners and entrepreneurs I've been in the marketing industry for about 15 years I owned a marketing agency where many of our clients were women business owners often 20s to 40s and coming into this Phase of life where they're starting to grow their family and really in this bind of what do I do with my small business as I want to take some time and be with my new family members.
And so very organically as a marketing agency, we started subbing for some of our clients. So whether that was working with their clients in a more creative capacity or doing some business development, whatever it was that we could just. Keep their business momentum going so that they could take the time they [00:06:00] needed to bond with their new baby or family member And then come back to a business that was still flourishing.
And so that is what transitioned The work i'm doing into small wave consulting And really focusing on supporting the small business owner and this really amazing and new and scary and so really trying to lend a supporting hand there,
Maggie: Yeah, I think that's so great as. Small business owners, I mean, we do everything and, you know, even if you're sick a couple days, it can really get you down and out. So being able to plan to take, you know, 6, 8, 12 weeks off is super hard to do no matter, you know, and so to schedule that out, to make that plan, to have someone kind of help coach aside you is so important.
You know, as we all know, whether if you're having children or adopting children, it's never just like six weeks and you're back at it. You know what I mean? Your, your mindset change, you know, your, your body's going through a lot. It can be, you know, your kid may come early. They might need to be in the NICU.
I mean, nothing is just like six weeks, like a vacation and we're done. So there's [00:07:00] so much planning that needs to go around that. So as a small business owner, what are some first steps women should take when planning for maternity leave, especially if they don't have access to, paid family leave like, some of these bigger companies offer?
audrey: Yeah, absolutely. And so that's where a lot of my work focuses on people that live in any of the states that aren't the 13 states or Washington, D. C. that have any sort of paid family medical leave. But really, if time is on your side, really, that's the best bet. Oftentimes clients I work with are.
Coming to me eight weeks, 12 weeks pregnant, which is great. But if you have time to plan, that's always where I say to get started. Because things like short term disability insurance if you have a business with at least two or three employees, depends on the policy. Oftentimes you can be qualifying for short term disability but that has to start 10 months prior to using the leave.
So things like that or taking a look at Your business as a whole. So what is your pricing? I know that oftentimes us as [00:08:00] women, we may not be charging our full worth, or maybe we set our prices and forgot about it. And so this is the time to start revisiting. What are we charging? And then also, how are we budgeting ourselves?
So if we're just in that planning process and we're not necessarily currently pregnant or going through the adoption process can we be doing a profit first model or working with a financial advisor using your resources to really start putting a budget in place of, okay, I'm putting money aside here so I can take the time I need and deserve when I do grow my family.
Barb: Wow this is so interesting because growing a business as a small business owner or a business owner people say we should take small out of it, but That's your baby, right? That's your heart and soul That's everything that you put into it should you say I'm at the time of my life that I want to start growing my own family and having a baby really Giving it to someone else to run can be scary, but I love that it's [00:09:00] not this or that you can still have your business up and running and that there are resources like you, Audrey, that can step in and take over and you can have confidence that you've made this plan together to keep your business running while you're having your family, which I think is fantastic because I have not heard of this before.
Like Maggie said, it's so great that we're having this conversation. I don't think women really know. There's this opportunity to do this. But what I hear you saying is it's all about planning. So for the disability insurance, you said 10 months prior. So you can't get it when you're pregnant you need to get that insurance before you even get pregnant and have that in place. So planning is a big key to this.
audrey: Yeah, absolutely. And, as we all know, that's very strategic that it's 10 months prior but I do appreciate you mentioning that because, from my own experiences I have an 18 month old right now and navigating the whole process of, I have a [00:10:00] business. I love my business.
I have a desire to grow my family. How do these two go together? I spent years trying to create a maternity leave for my own business because I just kept on hitting dead end of you're too small. You don't qualify like we don't really want to put time or effort into your business when we can be focusing on bigger guys, so yeah, thank you for mentioning
Maggie: And can you explain a little bit about how small or how disability insurance will help? Is, is being pregnant a disability?
Oh, okay.
audrey: Which is its own
Maggie: Yeah, okay. Interesting.
audrey: Yeah, so depending on if it's a vaginal or cesarean section, it will determine how many weeks of payout you get based off of your paycheck. But the whole idea is that could look like you're getting six, seven weeks paid from your insurance policy.
And so that means that if you do hire someone to fill in for you, you're subsidizing that. So it's not just straight out of pocket. You're paying a virtual assistant or someone to fill [00:11:00] in for you and you don't get a paycheck. It's the whole idea is that if you do the math and at the appropriate timing, it should really work in your
Maggie: Oh, okay.
Barb: Yeah. Business owners, we are all in with our businesses. We're so enmeshed in it. So what about those business owners who are feeling guilty or they're feeling anxious about taking time off for maternity leave? How can they overcome those feelings?
audrey: Yeah. So my first response to that is if you were talking to a friend and they worked at an Amazon or a bigger guy and they're like, Oh, I'm about to have a baby. They gave me two weeks off, or maybe not even that. Maybe they didn't give me any weeks off and I'm taking two immediate response was like, that doesn't sound right.
Barb: weeks.
audrey: exactly.
That's
Barb: crazy.
Yeah.
audrey: And so when we think about our businesses, a lot of business owners that I've worked with and did an initial survey with. Some are taking two weeks off, some are [00:12:00] taking three months off, some a bit longer, but two weeks is a very common time frame where you just think about like how does that even equate?
There's some amazing data out there. One is new america. org and they do a side by side of. What is parental leave rights in the United States? What is the infant's needs and what are the maternal needs? And just how much they don't align. And so that would be my first answer is take a look at like, if you weren't in the situation where as a business owner, we try to like, sludge through everything.
How does that really align? And look at the facts first and then going from there, I do deserve this time. I need it. It's just like biologically needed. So Let's get things in order so that we can let both of our business baby and then, our new family member have some space.
Barb: Two weeks, that is, who wrote that? Come on, whoever wrote that did not have a baby because that's crazy. When I had Maggie, it was a 24 hour, we called them drive through [00:13:00] deliveries, right? could only be in the hospital for 24 hours and then you went home, which actually worked out fine because my babies were healthy and no problem.
And I didn't want to hang out in the hospital, but not everybody has that and two weeks, your baby needs you and you need your baby. Three months, four months is even hard to leave to think about going back to any kind of employment, even if it's your own business, because now you have this human that you're you.
So attached to that. It's not just like, Oh, I recovered from a broken leg. Now I'm going back to work. It's a whole huge different
Maggie: mindset's different. You, you don't have a clear head to even get back to work, you know? It's not just like, I need to go back and just, you know, do it. An admin task, you know, it's like I need to run a whole business. I need a clear head and
Barb: I'm growing another
Maggie: human.
audrey: yeah. Yeah. And some of the data that's out there, they're showing that one in four women are going back at two weeks. And on the [00:14:00] opposite end that the minimum is 11 weeks for your body and all of your needs to be met and very minimal. I'm not saying that's enough time, but just even those two numbers alone.
Something's not matching up and that's why we're here.
Maggie: So yeah,
Barb: Let's just take a moment.
Maggie: And so how can small business owners structure kind of their personal leave plan in a way that supports both, you know, their business and their family needs without feeling overwhelmed? Because it can't just be like, all right, so now I got to prefront six months of work, you know, or something like that.
So how do you, yeah, really, really prepare for that? And I know one thing you said was time, which makes a ton of sense.
audrey: Yeah. Yeah. The overwhelm piece is key here. And that's really where something that you mentioned, Maggie, which is like. Pre loading the work or like rushing to do it rather than taking time away That's I think especially in the small business world like even many people when they take a two week vacation Are they taking a break for two weeks or is it just like they're rushing for the three weeks prior just to like?
[00:15:00] And so that's really where getting started with looking at your business as a whole for about two weeks and breaking it down. What is the client related tasks? What is the marketing related tasks and the business logistics tasks and then starting to look at what can be delayed or delegated.
And then who can do that for you? An easy next step if funds and mindset allows is a virtual assistant of Starting to break things down of okay This is even before your leave you're just getting used to like handing over little pieces of your baby business, which I know is very difficult is one thing is just looking at everything as a whole because I know for many of us We like piece together things right like We found this invoicing software that was really cheap and then we found this way To create contracts and all of them don't necessarily make sense because that's just you do it and you figured it out one of the things I offer is a parental leave planning guide So it's like a wedding planning guide.
So week by week you enter in. I have 35 weeks to plan and so here are tasks that you [00:16:00] can be doing. So looking at your marketing what can you be batching, batching content? What can you be can you create a wait list for your business? Do you have a business network?
Like, have you done networking for your business? If you have time, I know that's the resource we're talking about, but Start talking to people that can support you while you do step away.
Maggie: It just
Barb: And can we put that guide in the show notes so people can grab it?
audrey: Yeah, absolutely.
Barb: Wonderful.
Maggie: yeah, it's I'm sorry the thought just Went away. Oh, I was gonna say that it's it's interesting because then you can start seeing where you can take more time Just in your day while you have that time and I think you start thinking about your business in different ways You know being able to take that step back and seeing what you can delegate and so when you come back you're like What do I actually need to put back on my plate and what is going really?
Wow, and it's kind of fun to see like I automated all these things. I delegated all these things and now I can't have all that time. Even when you step back into the business you might need to re evaluate [00:17:00] some, but other ones you're like, wow, this can actually just keep rolling and we can keep having you do it.
And it works out really well.
audrey: Yeah, and one of the things I do want to mention is, the focus here has been on parental leave, but also so much because this is there's no state funding right now, and we're all fighting for that. So much of this can correlate to caretaking in general, right? So caretaking for an elderly parent, or even taking a sabbatical from your business.
A lot of this is just growth for you as an individual and as a professional. But yeah, of course, I just I want to mention that because so much of it isn't. dependent on being the birthing parent, besides the short term disability policy that there is some room for a lot of us to get some takeaway.
Barb: That's a great point because a lot of women are the caretakers in the family and often do need to step away. So what I hear you saying is you just always need to have a plan in place in the event you do need to step away that you have additional resources who can step in with some [00:18:00] maybe systems that you have in place already that they can step in and start managing and running on your behalf as well.
audrey: Yeah, it's always, my whole thing is, why do so many of us start small businesses? There's the passion piece, there's maybe the flexibility piece, but at the end of the day, how do we make our business work for ourselves? And that's part of what we're trying to accomplish here.
Barb: Yeah. But let's talk about re entry. So if someone does have a baby or has adopted a child and they've been out for a little bit, now there's this whole, emotional attachment to this new human in their lives who they love love, but they also love their business and want to keep it growing.
What kind of steps do you provide to get women for re entry?
audrey: Yeah, so the first is emphasis on this term called matrescence. So it's very similar to a term like adolescence, but matrescence is focused on the maternal kind of shift of, the emotional, physical, mental shift that you [00:19:00] do experience when becoming a mother, whether it's birth, the birthing parent or not.
But that, when people will say, oh, you're different after you have a child. It's not just like, it's not an excuse. It's not saying like you're lazy or any of these things that like, I don't even want to mention, but there's truly a term called matrescence and that, if you left your business, super excited and passionate about what you're doing.
And you come back and you're not feeling it as much that there's nothing wrong with you or something's not broken in your business or anything like that, that you went through this major shift. And just understanding that I think is step one, especially as small business owners, where oftentimes we're doing so many things on our own and you always, you're already pushing through, you need this grit, you need this confidence.
And then you enter into this whole new world with this whole new person. And then you're like how do I do any of this? A whole emphasis on that, but then it's very much taking things slow. Part of the planning is the communication with your clients. So saying, I'm going to be out [00:20:00] until this time.
I will not be on my email. If you need something, here's maybe the point person, really setting the boundaries there, but then also coming back before your clients know you're there reacclimate. Getting used to what your child care situation is or if you're pumping or you know Whatever it is giving yourself time to adapt and really take things slow is It's really the biggest thing I would say.
And then also, if, you give it a few months and you're still not feeling like, Oh, like something's off, like I'm not, I don't want to work my Monday through Friday, a regular schedule I used to work. Like, maybe I want to dedicate Fridays to just being with my child. Like giving yourself grace to be like, actually, like, let's make a shift.
I think that a lot of times we try to fit into the mold we created for ourselves prior to taking leave.
Maggie: And that, yeah, it's so interesting. And I know there's this other part that I just wanted to pull in quick that you mentioned at the beginning, and that was that you also help people who don't want to go back to their nine [00:21:00] to five. Is that what build a business in this time, but their time off?
audrey: Yeah. So I unfortunately don't have the specific stat, but it's a very common for especially women after taking let's say three, three months maternity leave from their corporate job. And then they're like, wait, I want to start this job or this business or I have this new idea because it's so unusual for us to just take this time away from our business and our adult life.
So it's very common for people to come up with these ideas while I'm on leave. And so oftentimes it's where do I get started? This is a whole new world. And so that's also the work that we offer. I'm just getting your business off the ground, very simple business plans, website.
Just how do we get the initial messaging out there? And then going from there
Barb: how often do you see that happening that women are like I'm not going back to corporate. I'm going to do my own thing.
audrey: Yeah, it is and I was just looking for the specific stat and like there's not specific Data points, but just like if you read any [00:22:00] facebook group or reddit or you know You just hear it all the time where it's like I have this idea. I want to start this cup company or I want to go further into photography so I can have that balance with my child.
And so that's also where there's that kind of that shift where it's, especially if you go back to an employer you're just expected to come straight back to what your role was and you don't have the flexibility to re, re, evaluate that. And giving yourself some time to, okay, wait, this feels different.
Like, am I alone or is this kind of a normal feeling?
Maggie: I do see like I'm thinking about you know on Shark Tank how many like different baby products it was because you know I didn't have what I needed. So I made it and you know, and they're doing these things now, which I could kind of see And so it is that time you kind of get a clear mind You know before, before you have a screaming baby.
And it can kind of come up with some of those thoughts, which is pretty cool to see. And I could see why you wouldn't want to just go back to that regular nine to five after, yeah, wanting to spend [00:23:00] time with your baby. It was interesting, you know, I was on, of course, social media the other day and you know, somebody was, It's got pregnant that they didn't really plan for.
And so now they're trying to make like a, you know, so many tick tock dancing videos to sell some program. And so I love that there's a resource like you, that's like, all right, we don't need to, that's not the only way to do it. That's one way if you want to do it and if that resonates with you but it doesn't have to be, you know, just selling affiliate links and opening a business that way to take that maternity leave.
audrey: But like there's a way to have your business still keep running or, or make a new business that still has those opportunities without you having to, you know, affiliate link and things like that. Yeah. And that's really like the key is finding that thing that like, you're really excited about. So maybe it was like a passion project on the side and now you have this time to dedicate a little bit more. Thought not a lot of brain power, but maybe some time to it.
And yeah, and then that's what sparks a lot of inspiration
Maggie: All right, Audrey, this has been a great conversation. And we have one more question that we do like to ask all of our guests. And that is, what does financial [00:24:00] freedom look like to you?
audrey: Yeah, I would say it's taking the power back and making the decision and the choice of what works for you Your family, your business, whatever it is but you having the power to make that choice rather than what society tells you. Especially when it comes to growing or creating a family where it's, you're either a stay at home working for no pay versus working in an office for pay.
As those are the two options, rather than there's this massive gray area where you can really. Have that power to decide what works best for you, your family, especially when it comes to, the financial situation, but taking the ability to choose rather than what society is telling you
Maggie: I love that. That's awesome. Well, thank you again for coming on today and sharing your expertise. That guide and all your information will be in the show notes. And we look forward to talking to you again soon. And thanks for coming on.
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