In my “pre-kid” days  I would jokingly refer to maternity leave as matirement (get it…like retirement?) Um, yah – not even close. If you’re a parent with small children then you know: mat leave consists of non-stop poopy diapers, burping, feeding, hushing and repeating all of the above. Not having time to shower is actually true!

So why did I decide to start a side business during this chaotic first year of motherhood? I’ll tell you because maybe you should too.

Discovering the new me…

Starting Wuchild forced me to protect time for me to create and play. I got to explore many untapped creative sides of myself that I never felt confident delving into. Designing, writing and photography are just a few examples. There’s something about making a human that really releases your inhibitions and fears and makes you feel pretty darn powerful. Am I right ladies?

Building this business has, and continues, to give me space to reflect on who I am and who I want to be when I grow up.

Making extra cash while working from home 

A bonus is the extra money you can make on the side! For Wuchild, we (my fabulous business partner Bernice Paul and I) have made a conscious decision to reinvest most of our profits to grow. But I’ll say this: Wuchild has kept the dream of one day working part-time, or dare I say, full-time on it, ALIVE.

Starting Wuchild while on mat leave during the nine-month mark gave me enough lead time to build and keep the momentum of this dream before heading back to work. And we all know going back to work full time post-mat leave can be quite the gong show–another blog for another day.

Next week I’ll share some useful tips on launching your own small business. Stay tuned.

Wuchild was started by two rad moms –Yvette Wu and Bernice Paul – while on mat leave in 2015. This local ‘mom shop’ designs stylin’ baby and kids apparel. Beyond this, their vision is to form a mom collective that ignites the untapped talent–and empowers the creative identity–of other new mothers.