My Journey as a New Mom to a Founder of a Sleep Coaching Company

How getting laid off pushed me into my role as a stay at home mom, and motivated me to start my own business as a pediatric sleep consultant.

POV: it’s October of 2020, we’re well into COVID, you’re 5 months pregnant, working from home, and you were just told you’re getting laid off in January.

I had been working for a recruiting agency for about a year and a half at this point, and 6 months of it had been remote due to COVID. Like most companies, during this time they were beginning to lay people off so I wasn’t surprised when they broke the news to me, and if I’m being honest I wasn’t too upset either. I loved my job; especially the people and the company itself but after working from home for the last 6 months, that was really all I enjoyed. The timing itself was truly both a blessing and a curse. I was due with my daughter Savannah at the end of January, so while getting laid off right before having our first baby was scary from a financial standpoint, I was really looking forward to having that free time to prep and relax before she arrived. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to be home with her all of this time!

My Reality of Being a STAHM

After the first 6 months of being home with Savannah, I started to feel a little anxious about money, and my future. My unemployment had run out back in July and I was starting to feel lost without my own income. I was looking for jobs, but to be honest, I was half-assing it. I didn’t want to go back to the 9-5 corporate world, nor did I want to put Savannah in daycare even for a few days a week. I know you guys get it…daycare costs are highway robbery, and not to mention the anxiety that comes with sending your child into a giant petri dish of germs every day! MY GERMAPHOBIA COULD NEVER. At this point, I was panicking a bit…that was until I came across Courtney Zentz’s Sleep School Program.

Finding the Courage To Be My Own Boss

I was scrolling through Instagram one day, as most of us do (far too often), and I saw Courtney from Tiny Transitions posted about her sleep school program where she takes you through a year of pediatric sleep and business training for you to then start your own pediatric sleep coaching business. I inquired just to get some more info and see what it was about, but I really had no intentions of pursuing it. I didn’t think it was in me, especially since I had always worked for start-up companies and saw what kind of person it took to run a successful one. While I’d always loved the excitement and fast-paced environment of a start-up, I truthfully could not see myself being successful on my own.

I was surprised at how much my self-confidence had changed since being home/out of work. I had always been a cautious yet confident person who chased challenges and new opportunities to build my career. At both of my previous jobs, I had earned the title of “The Yes Girl” because I was always the first to volunteer for the project that others were hesitant or too nervous to take on. Succeeding in those opportunities fueled me, and so did the fear of failure. But this scared me, and I hadn’t felt scared like that in a long time.

Taking the Plunge

So…I did it. I took the plunge and have been working with Courtney for exactly 1 month today! I knew if I didn’t take this chance on myself that I would either end up being a SAHM forever and living off of my husband’s salary (power to you ladies that do that, but it’s just not for me), or I would find myself in another corporate job that pays just enough to send my kid to daycare. Either way, I was going to stay broke and miserable, and I was tired of feeling that way. Now don’t get it twisted, I’m still very much broke, but a lot less miserable. I finally have something to be passionate about again, and something that keeps my brain active.

Starting this business has been fascinating, overwhelming, exciting, scary, educational, terrifying … you get the point. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to balance my day by still being a full-time SAHM and a Founder of a business, but I am approaching each challenge with an open mind and all of the bravery and courage I can muster! There are days where I get a lot done. Like today, I’m writing this blog post, and doing some studying during my daughter’s 2-hour nap (2 hours may sound like a lot until you stop and look around at the million and one things that need to get done. I.e. my Halloween decorations that desperately need to be taken down). Other days, I find myself sitting on the floor watching yet another episode of Mickey and the Roadster Racers, surrounded by toys and endless piles of laundry, and being used as a human jungle gym. (Remember when your pre-mom self said you’d never be one of those moms that lets their kids climb on them? Or give them more than 30 minutes of screen time per day? HAHAHA. Remember her?! She’s gone now.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my first blog post, and I hope that some of you can relate and maybe find some comfort in my mess. We’ve all got battles, honey, we each just gotta find the best way to fight them.