Shayna and Evelyn are back, and this episode is all about maternity leave: the one business transition that comes with a due date, hormone surges, and absolutely no instruction manual. Whether you are navigating it yourself, supporting an employee through it, or just starting to think about what it could look like, the honest truth is that most designers go into it underprepared and come out the other side wishing someone had given them a real roadmap. This episode is that roadmap.
They open with the version nobody talks about. The plan that doesn't survive the first week. The confident return date that gets pushed. Shayna took two weeks with her second and came back full time. She does not recommend it. Evelyn led a team meeting while pushing a bassinet with a screaming baby inside. She called Shayna in tears the moment it ended. The lesson is the same: you cannot willpower your way through this season. You have to build and prepare for it.
From there they break down the practical steps needed to prepare for this season of life. Getting an assistant integrated early, ideally six months out, so they can be your hands when yours are full. Building the reporting systems that let you stay in control at a high level without being in the weeds. Pricing, tasks, money. The triangle holds during maternity leave too, but only if the foundation exists before you step back.
The episode closes with a final necessary checklist: find your childcare before you need it, build your routine during pregnancy, create separation between work and home wherever you can, and treat yourself with the same grace you would extend to any employee going out on leave.
Whether you are a designer who is pregnant, newly back, supporting a team member through it, or just thinking ahead, this episode was made for you. The design industry does not hand you a maternity policy. You have to build one. And now you have everything you need to do exactly that.
