What My Last Mat Leave Taught Me About Real Work–Life Balance
No one talks enough about how hard it is to find actual work–life balance when you’re the one in charge.
When you’re the CEO, the founder, the person whose name is on the invoices and the Zoom room… “balance” can feel like a cute Pinterest quote, instead of a real thing you get to have.
Because when you’re the leader, there’s this unspoken pressure to:
Be involved in every corner of your business
Always be “on” and available
Prove you’re committed by never stepping away
And if you’re a parent on top of that? The mental load is next level.
But here’s what my last mat leave taught me: Work–life balance works when you know how to lead smarter.
It’s not about caring less about your business, but trusting it enough to step away without everything crumbling.
So let’s talk about what that actually looks like in real life… (and no, it’s not just a fluffy mindset quote).
The Lie: “If I’m not in everything, it will all fall apart.”
I used to think being a committed CEO meant I had to be everywhere:
In the Slack channels.
In the client inbox.
In every decision, every deliverable, every tiny detail.
Especially preparing for mat leave, my brain was convinced that, “If I’m not involved in everything… something will break.”
What actually happened? The more I tried to hold everything, the less I was able to be present anywhere - at home or in my work. I was physically with my family, but mentally drafting emails. I was on my laptop, but thinking about naps and feedings and appointments.
But all that did was leave me in survival mode.
Real leadership is building a business that doesn’t need you in every single corner to function.
The Truth: Work–Life Balance Comes From How You Lead
If you want a business that lets you take time off, be with your kids, go on mat leave, or simply log off at 3 pm without spiraling… you need better support.
You need systems, people, and boundaries that hold the business up, even when you’re not at your desk.
Here are three ways to start creating that kind of balance.
1. Have a self-sufficient team you can 100% rely on
If you want to step away, you can’t be the only person who knows what’s going on.
A self-sufficient team is a well-supported one.
Things that make a huge difference:
Clear roles and ownership
So your team knows exactly what they’re responsible for—and what they’re not. No guessing, no “I thought you were doing that.”Documented processes
Your brain should not be the only place your business “lives.”
Think: SOPs, Loom walkthroughs, templates, checklists. Boring? Maybe. Liberating? Absolutely.Decision-making frameworks
When your team knows how you think, not just what you do, they can make decisions in alignment with your standards without Slacking you for every tiny thing.
When you trust your people and your processes, you can actually rest, because you know things are handled.
2. Be okay with not being involved in everything
This one is confronting. Especially if you’ve built your business from the ground up and your default is: “I’ll just do it, it’s faster.”
Spoiler: that’s not faster long-term. That’s how you end up answering DMs while feeding a newborn or editing a doc at midnight because “it’ll just take a second.”
Here’s the mindset shift:
You are not “slacking” by stepping back.
You are not “less committed” if you miss a Slack thread.
You are not a “bad leader” if your team handles things without you.
You are building something bigger than your personal capacity.
Practically, this can look like:
Letting your team run with projects start to finish
You get the summary, not the play-by-play.Limiting your access to communication apps during certain hours
No Slack on your phone, or notifications off after a certain time.Creating defined “CEO touchpoints” each week
Instead of being everywhere all the time, you have intentional times where you review, give feedback, and make decisions—and then step back.
You don’t have to be in everything to be a good CEO.
You just have to be in the right things.
3. Treat your personal life like it’s part of the business plan
This is the one we skip the most.
We plan launches, content, client capacity, revenue goals…
But we don’t always plan for the actual life we’re living:
Mat leave
School breaks
Health needs
Mental bandwidth
The fact that you are a human being, not a machine
If you want work–life balance, your personal life has to be baked into the way you structure your business.
That might look like:
Mapping out your year with life events before locking in launches
Building offers that don’t rely on you being live constantly
Pricing in a way that supports time off, not just endless output
Intentionally scheduling slower seasons (not just crashing into them)
Your business should support your life.
Not the other way around.
What my last mat leave really taught me
My last mat leave showed me that:
I don’t want a business that collapses if I’m not watching it 24/7
I can be both present and profitable
Being a committed CEO isn’t about burning myself out to prove I care
It’s about building something that can run, even when I don’t.
Baby cuddles. Slow mornings. Walks outside. Those aren’t things I want to squeeze into the cracks of my life.
They’re the reason I built this business in the first place.
And I know I’m not the only one who wants both.
If you’re still stuck in “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done…”
Then this is exactly what my Streamline to Scale masterclass is for.
We go deeper into:
How to structure your team so you’re not the bottleneck
What to put in place before you step away (mat leave, vacations, or just scaling back your hours)
Building programs and processes that support revenue and rest
Leading in a way that makes your business feel lighter, not heavier
If you’re craving real work–life balance…
the kind where you can close your laptop and trust your business is still okay…
This is your next step.
👉 Click here and comment MASTERCLASS to get the replay sent straight to your inbox.