It sounds obvious. Of course a child changes your life! I see it with every sip of cold coffee and every nighttime scream over a lost stuffed animal…
But for many women, the expression goes even further. I’m talking about those women for whom motherhood upends their priorities so completely that it leads to a radical career change—mainly those who decide to walk away from everything to become their own boss. Welcome to the world of self-employed moms!
And that’s the path I decided to take after my second pregnancy!
The idea had been floating around in my head for a long time. The feeling that I’d hit a wall in my previous job had been weighing on me for several years already, and opportunities for advancement meant spending less time with my little ones. No thanks! Plus, I didn’t want to show up at daycare out of breath after a frantic race to get there on time.
But I didn’t have a brilliant business idea or a revolutionary product to sell. So I used my maternity leave to set myself a challenge: to open myself up to new possibilities and step outside my comfort zone.
So I started taking on lots of little projects here and there. With my baby in tow, I’d head out for small gigs—sometimes paid, sometimes volunteer. I didn’t turn anything down! The main thing was to try new things and push myself.
Then the opportunity I’d been waiting for came along. A “job” that was perfect for me: a highly stimulating job description, “challenges,” the chance to learn a ton of new things, and above all, the chance to work mainly from home and manage my time as I saw fit. A dream come true! And steady work… which isn’t always the case when you’re self-employed.
But Cocotte was still so tiny, only 5 months old… I wasn’t sure I was ready to work during the day and not sleep at night. I weighed the pros and cons at length. Would it be worth it? Would I regret missing out on several precious months of one-on-one time with my daughter just to go to work? But a happy mom = a happy baby, as they say!
So I took the plunge! A leap without a safety net—one that didn’t put my life at risk, but certainly put our financial security on the line. Because no, life isn’t always a bed of roses. Sometimes you have to work crazy hours to make up for the times when there’s nothing at all! And nothing is ever guaranteed. But for now, I prefer the stress of freelancing to the stress of a 9-to-5… #freeandliberated
Beyond all that, the freedom this new life offers me is unparalleled. As a general rule, I treat myself to relaxed mornings with my little ones. I can also wrap up early to start making dinner before picking them up from daycare. Although I often have to get back to work as soon as they’re fast asleep, the time I spend with them is much more peaceful and, naturally, of higher quality. And that’s priceless!
At a time when balancing work and family is the biggest challenge for parents, let’s stack the odds in our favor to make our lives easier. In my case, it was striking out on my own that allowed me to achieve this. I’ll never be grateful enough to my children for giving me the courage to change this aspect of my life.
Joëlle