Ashley Rose, Sugar & Cloth - Boss Ladies Who Had Babies • PMQ for two

Ashley of Sugar & Cloth is next up with the Boss Ladies Who Had Babies questionnaire! She’s been paving the way for bright and colourful DIYs and interiors, and has done so with impeccable style and branding. You know that whole macaron craze? Ya, I’m pretty sure she started it.

Check out my answers, Kelly from Studio DIY’s, and Meagan Williamson’s (Pinterest Consultant)’s.

They recently bought their first house (like us!) and have been working hard to complete renovations on it, all the while running the business and a studio (which has now closed).

She and her husband Jared, welcomed Gwen back in January 2018 and have been sharing all of her adorable developments online since. She’s got quite the expressions, and looks like a bucket of energy.

1. When was your baby due / did you welcome a child?

Jan 2018

2. What was your maternity leave plan? ex. Did your social channels go dark? did you have a backlog of content? Did you keep creating but at a lower output?

We created a backlog of content, but also published less often to make the at content go further. That said, we didn’t start publishing until 2-3 weeks after Gwen arrived so that it didn’t feel inorganic to the season we were in.

3. Did you have a partner that was able to take mat/ pat leave at the same time? Can you describe the type of role they played in supporting you?

Jared and I both run Sugar & Cloth full time, so yes we were able to take time off together but that also meant neither of us had paid jobs during the time we took off either.

Photo Credit Sugar & Cloth

4. What was something you think you did really well during the first few months postpartum, in terms of work-life balance?

Honestly, we really just embraced the moments we were in. These are times we’ll never get back, and I consistently reminded myself of that! I was so worried about maternity leave and what work would be like with a baby, but once she was here, it was all too easy for me to shut that off haha!

5. What’s something you could have done better during the first few months, in terms of work-life balance?

I wish I hadn’t compared my routine to other bloggers that seemed to still be doing it all. It didn’t change what I did or didn’t do, it only made me feel less than.

6. Did you have a work team to support you during your initial months / year? What kind of role did they play?

A very, very small team that worked remotely. We launched our product line the same year she was born, and we relied really heavily on hand-selected creatives to help support that for us when we couldn’t commit the time to it that we needed to. Also a virtual assistant is a beautiful thing!

Photo Credit Sugar & Cloth

7. Business wise, did you anticipate and plan for a shift in content to reflect your changing situation? Or did your brand not change at all?

We were lifestyle before, but we did make a heavy shift toward family content that wasn’t as much of a focus before. I feel like we’re just now starting to see that balance out a year later.

8. How did you manage the transition back to “full time” working life once you were ready? (nanny, more studio/work help, shorter work days)

We have a nanny and Nana (grandma!) combination that works well for us, but it is sometimes hard to focus when Gwen is running around the house. I consider us fortunate to be able to be with her so often, so the pro’s outweigh the con’s of being a little distracted with working from home alongside a baby.

9. Having done it once, are you considering doing it a second time? wink wink

Yes, haha!

10. Is there one piece of advice you wish other self-employed moms knew about?

You can only “prepare” so much until a time comes that you still have to make the hard decision of when and how you transition back to a new normal, so don’t stress every detail so much!

Comments

at home with Ashley says

September 6, 2019 at 8:44 am

Thank you SO much for doing this series! I love reading about how other bloggers managed after having a baby. It’s really inspiring.

- Ariel says
  
  September 6, 2019 at 8:45 am
  
  Isn’t it?! It’s been super interesting AND inspiring too. The gig economy is a major factor in people choosing to have kids, and seeing how others have successfully done it is like having a bunch of roadmaps