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One Simple Journal Prompt to Make 2026 Your Best Year Yet

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 12 minutes

Get ready for a simple journal prompt that has the potential to change your year and help you actually do and accomplish the goals you’re hoping to achieve. This is actually an episode I wasn’t necessarily planning to do. I know there’s so, so much goal-setting content out there at this time of year, but this is something I personally do.

The other night, I was writing and working through this simple journal prompt myself before going to bed, and I literally decided at that moment, while feeling the impact of it, that I had to do a quick podcast episode on this. I’m doing this because I truly think it could be so helpful for you as you think about the year ahead.

This is a way to help you cut through the goal-setting clutter. It helps you move past the things you might think will make the year awesome, but that you ultimately won’t care about at the end of 2026. Maybe right now you’re thinking, that’s the thing, that’s the goal, but maybe it’s not actually the thing you’ll care about at the end of the year, or even over the trajectory of your entire life.

We’re thinking about what we can do to make this next year great in a way that still benefits you when you’re 70 years old. Decisions that have a lasting impact. So this is about thinking through the legacy of your life as a whole, not just revenue numbers, not just things like “get healthier,” or “read X number of books,” or other vague ideas—or even specific goals that seem really good, but where you’re not sure how to get from point A to point B.

I think this prompt is going to help you with all of that. So let’s dive in. A simple journal prompt to make next year your best year yet.

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So I’m someone who loves goal setting, and I also love journaling, letter writing, and reflection-style prompts. So if that’s you, I think you’re going to like this. We’re kind of merging those two things and making them work well together.

The History Behind This Goal-Setting Prompt

This is based on something I actually do every year in the month of October, usually for my birthday. I’ve done this birthday ritual now six years in a row, and it’s very, very important to me. I’ll have to do an episode on it at some point. The version I do for my birthday is different than what we’re doing for the new year, but for my birthday ritual, I’m thinking five years out.

What we’re doing right now is thinking one year out. And because this has been so impactful for me in terms of reflection, just knowing where I’m heading, what I’m trying to do, what I want my impact to be, and what I want my life to be about, I wanted to apply that same idea here.

The Best Goal-Setting Journaling Prompt for 2026

You’re going to teleport yourself to December of 2026 (one year later from whenever it is that you’re doing this journaling). Picture that version of yourself, your family, your business, all of it one year from now.

You’re sitting there journaling and reflecting, and you think to yourself, or maybe you say to someone else, “Man, 2026 was the best year I’ve ever had. It was the best year.”

Now, maybe that feels too intense for you. Maybe you’re thinking, “No, I’m not going to say it was the best year ever because of this, or that, or whatever else.” If you feel that kind of resistance, instead picture yourself saying, “2026 was everything I could have ever dreamed it would be.” It was everything you could have dreamed it to be. All the goals were hit. This year was everything you could have wanted.

You are yourself one year later, saying, “Man, this year was the best year yet. This was everything I could have dreamed of.” Now ask yourself this question: What would have had to happen to make that true?

That’s the simple journal prompt. If 2026 was your best year yet, everything you could have dreamed of, what would have happened?

Write a letter to yourself, from your future self to the version of you right now, talking about everything that happened that made the year so wonderful. What you accomplished. What you overcame. What changed. What was hard. What was awesome. What was more challenging. What you pushed through. And then offer advice to yourself, now looking ahead.

Don’t overthink it

My first piece of advice with this is: don’t overthink it. Just write.

Like I said, I’ve done this birthday journal prompt for six years now—doing the same version, but thinking about myself five years into the future. I’ve explained it to so many of my friends, even over the past year or two, including friends who share almost the same birthday as me.

I’ve sent them photos from my journal entries from years earlier where so much of what I wrote actually came to fruition. I was telling them, “Look—this is how powerful this is.” But it can still feel complicated and confusing. So I just want to say, if it feels that way for you, you’re not alone. And there’s no one right way to do this. You just try it and get into a flow with it.

Here are some tips to help you get started.

Tip #1: Write From The Perspective of That Future Version of You.

I know it might sound silly, but you’ve got to get there. You’ve got to be her, be him, be that version of yourself.

Something that helps me get into that headspace is writing at the top of my journal entry or on a separate sheet of paper, is a statement like, “Let’s think about what’s happening now.” Then I’ll write things like my age, my husband’s age, my kids’ ages, and anything I already know will have happened.

For example, maybe you know that next year you’ll have a baby because you’re pregnant right now. That’s something you know will be true. Maybe you know you’re starting a podcast because you already have the launch date planned and you’re working toward it.

Maybe you know your oldest is starting kindergarten, or your kids are moving to a new school. Maybe you’re moving states, or maybe you’re hoping to move houses locally. Maybe you’re going to be looking for a new church to join.

Whatever it is, write out the things you already know are going to happen. That helps you think from that future perspective.

I’d really encourage you to do whatever helps you get into that headspace of that version of you. Sometimes with this kind of imaginative, creative writing, things like going on a walk beforehand can really help, just reflecting and thinking, “Okay, me at the end of 2026, what all would have happened?” You can even go month by month and think, “Okay, this person has a birthday this month,” and let that guide your reflection. Just think through the different things that are happening and get yourself into that headspace, okay?

Tip #2: Before Writing, Jot Down Some Of Your Hopes and Goals For The Year

Before you start writing the letter, you can jot down some of your hopes and goals for the year. This helps you remember the specific things you want to write about. For example, maybe you have a specific health goal you’re thinking about. Jot that down, because that’s something you’ll want to write about. Maybe there’s a shift happening in your family life that you want to reflect on. Maybe you want to get more involved in your church and volunteer more. Maybe the year is going to be defined by adjusting to a new baby and going back to working part-time as a mom.

Whatever it is, just jot down the things you already know you want to write about. That’s something that’s really helpful for me when I do this. I start by getting in the headspace, what’s happening, and then I think about what I know I want to touch on.

Tip #3: Consider These Categories When Deciding What To Write About

If you’re not sure where to start, or you’re thinking, “Okay, I love this idea, but what do I actually write about?,” here are some categories that can help:

Health
Personal growth
Spiritual growth
Finances and money
Career and business
Marriage
Family and kids
Friendships
Other family relationships outside of your nuclear family
Community involvement
Fun and recreation.

Those are some core categories to consider. And you can absolutely think beyond these too—things that might span multiple categories or feel more specific. Things like moving, hiring in your business, or launching something new. Whatever you think might happen this year and whatever you want to write about.

But if you’re still thinking, “I don’t know where to start,” start with your health. What do you want your health to be like at the end of 2026? Then think about personal growth. Maybe you’re really tired of being glued to your phone and doom-scrolling every chance you get. What would you want that to look like at the end of 2026?

And as you write about these things, ask yourself: what did it take to get there? Maybe at the end of 2026 you’re saying, “I barely use Instagram anymore. I don’t scroll every time I have five seconds. I’m not on my phone before bed.” What did it take to get there?

That’s the headspace you want to be in. This is the goal. This is the outcome. What did it take to get there?

Tip #4: Remember That You Are Guessing and Dreaming

Remember that you are guessing and dreaming. For some people, and I can get into this headspace too, it’s really easy to get caught up in the details. Like, “I hope we move this year, but I don’t know if we’ll find a house we can afford. I don’t know where it would be or when it would happen.” It doesn’t matter. You guess. You dream.

Maybe you have a business goal that feels completely out of reach. Maybe you’d love to hit a certain revenue number, or launch something new, or work with a specific number of clients—whatever it is.

And you might be thinking, “Yes, I have this goal, but I don’t know if I can actually hit it.” Of course you don’t know—it hasn’t happened yet. That’s the point. You’re dreaming. You’re writing as if the goal has already happened. What would you say? What would you tell yourself now to help you get there?

Using that example from a minute ago—maybe at the end of the year you’re much less attached to your phone—write about what that would feel like. What does a day feel like when you’re on your phone so much less? Then answer the question: what did it take to get there?

So just keep that in mind as you write. You’re guessing and dreaming. Guessing and dreaming. You’re trying to predict based on your hopes and imagination. And you might read this letter a year from now and think, “Oh my gosh, that did not happen,” and that’s okay. Maybe something even better happened, something you never could have asked, imagined, or dreamed of. That’s straight from scripture. God can do so much more than we can ask, dream of, pray for, or imagine.

This isn’t about saying, “This has to be exactly what happens this year.” You’re just guessing and dreaming. Stay in that headspace.

Tip #5: You’ll Probably Have to Do This in Multiple Sittings

Ultimately, this goal-setting journal prompt might turn into a long letter, or maybe a paragraph or so for each category. Plan to work on it over multiple days. Don’t get overwhelmed by thinking you need hours at a time to do this.

I’ve been working on my letter in three different stints already, and I’m still not done. I did a little during overlapping nap times with the kids the other day, a little before bed on two different nights, and today I’ll work on it again during nap time.

Just work on it in small increments.

Tip #6: I Prefer Pen To Paper… But You Could Also Type It Out!

I personally like pen to paper in a journal, but you could also type this pout. Just make sure it’s somewhere you can save and look back at it throughout the year. You might even rewrite it or revisit parts of it halfway through the year.

Don’t get caught up in how you do it. If you prefer typing, type it. If you prefer journaling, journal it. You don’t need to buy a fancy new journal to do this.

Just find an old journal you haven’t written in for a while—maybe it’s your prayer journal or your business journal—whatever it is, just find a place to write. It doesn’t have to be perfect. What matters is that you do this and give it a shot.

Tip #7: Give Yourself Advice

My next piece of advice is to just give yourself advice. You are the person who accomplished the goal, writing a letter to the version of you who hasn’t accomplished it yet. So offer yourself advice. Ask the question: If this goal was achieved, what would have had to happen to get me there? And then write about that.

Think of it as your future self giving really good advice to you now. It’s kind of like sitting down for coffee with a more experienced mom, someone whose kids are grown, and asking, “How did you do this?” Or talking to a business owner who’s ten years in when you’re just starting out. What would you ask? What would they say?

But in this case, you are that person, giving advice to yourself about accomplishing these goals.

Tip #8: Once You’re Done Writing, Go Back Through and Reread It To Help With Your Goal Setting

Highlight or underline the parts where you really light up, these are usually the parts that clearly show what you truly want for the year.

Maybe as you reread it, you realize, “What I really want this year is a shift in how our family does life.” Or, “What I really want is more headspace and free time.” Or, “What I really want is to enjoy playing with my kids.”

Those aren’t my personal examples, I’m just throwing out ideas, but you’ll start to see themes emerge.

Maybe what you really want is to be on your phone less. Maybe what you really want is to feel more energized at 3:00 p.m. because you’re healthier and sleeping better. When you go through this, you might see things you would never notice if you just sat down and said, “What are my goals for the year?” Like, “I want to read this many books,” or “I want to exercise a few times a week.”

This gets you into the more nitty-gritty. So go through it. And then, when you do your goal-setting process, whatever that looks like for you, use this. This isn’t necessarily the goal-setting process itself. This is the thing you take and then run with when you go set your goals.

This becomes your anchor point. Your starting point for What do I want? What do I really want? And then, how might I get there?

I know for me, when I go through this, I actually start to see things like, “Okay, what’s a good Q1 step toward this bigger goal?” Sometimes you’ll literally see it in what you wrote. You might have already answered the question, What did it take to get there? What did I actually do to make this a reality?

Tip #9: Pray Before You Begin

I would really encourage you to ask God for wisdom and guidance in what you write. When I pray during my goal-setting process, I ask God that I wouldn’t have a goal or a vision for the year that isn’t from Him, that doesn’t glorify Him, and that isn’t part of His greater plan for my life and my family’s life.

That might look like sitting down and praying right before you write. It might look like going on a walk and praying before you sit down to write. Maybe today you’re thinking, “Okay, I want to do this journal prompt,” but the only time you have is a 20-minute walk with your baby sleeping. So you pray during that walk and start dreaming—What are the things I might write about? Maybe you jot a few notes in your phone that you’ll come back to when you actually sit down to write.

But just pray about it. That would be my biggest encouragement—ask God for guidance in your goal setting. Whether you do this prompt or not, I think it’s so important as believers to invite God into the goal-setting process.

So those are my nine tips. Now, to recap the prompt, I’m going to restate it the way I did at the beginning to get you back into that headspace.

The Best Goal-Setting Journal Prompt for 2026

If 2026 was my best year yet, what would have happened to make that true? And what advice would I give myself now to get there?

Another way to phrase it is: If 2026 was everything I could have dreamed of, what would that mean happened? Maybe one of those resonates with you more. Maybe one of them feels intimidating. I know for some people, the “best year yet” idea feels like, “Whoa, slow down.” If that’s you, just think in terms of, If it was everything I could have dreamed up, what would that mean?

Reflect on this letter through the year

And maybe this is a letter you go back and read in early February. You might realize, “I said I wanted this, but I’m not doing any of the things I said it would take to get there.” And then you refocus.

Honestly, that’s something I think I’m going to do this year. I might even put a calendar reminder every quarter to go back and reread my letter.

And maybe it’s as simple as taking five minutes to reread it. Or maybe it’s more like, “Okay, I need to rewrite that part,” or, “I need to revisit some of these goals.” Or maybe you read something and think, “I don’t even agree with this anymore, why did I think I wanted that? I don’t want that.”

You might have some of those reactions when you come back to it later. But I would encourage you not to let this be something you just throw away. Let it be something you actually revisit and something that continues to inform your goal setting.

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The post One Simple Journal Prompt to Make 2026 Your Best Year Yet appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

2 Christmas Traditions for Christians Who Want To Bring Jesus Into The Season

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 11 minutes

Every year on the podcast, I release a Christmas episode and many of you have told me it’s one of the episodes you look forward to most. This year, I’m sharing two of our family’s favorite Christmas traditions for Christians. They’re simple, meaningful, and rooted in faith, while still being incredibly fun for young children. If you have toddlers or preschoolers, these may become new favorites for your family too.

Today, I’m focusing on two traditions our family has come to cherish, ones I’ve been asked about by friends, listeners, and even people who saw little snippets I shared on Instagram last year. One of these traditions in particular was actually requested as its own episode after someone messaged me about it.

Before I dive in, here’s a little context about the ages of my kids, since that shapes how we practice these traditions:

My oldest is four,
My second is 20 months,
And my youngest, experiencing her very first Christmas, is just four months old.

Our kids are still very little, but I think one of these traditions works well for all ages, even teens and adult children. The second one is especially great for younger kids. I’ll also mention what these looked like when my boys were even younger.

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Search for episode 325!

Tradition #1: The Shepherd’s Supper

This first tradition is the one my son, Colin, talked about for an entire year after we did it. It’s called the Shepherd’s Supper, and it has quickly become a highlight of our Christmas season.

I first heard about this idea from Sally Clarkson, a Christian author and podcaster—many of you may know her from her show Life with Sally. In her family, they call it the Shepherd’s Meal. When I came across it, I immediately knew it was something I wanted to try with my own kids, and it turned out to be even more special than I expected.

We call this tradition the Shepherd’s Supper—even though Sally Clarkson, who inspired the idea, actually calls it the Shepherd’s Meal. I must have subconsciously preferred the alliteration, because “Shepherd’s Supper” is what stuck in our house. Either way, we borrowed the concept from her and adapted it to fit our season of life, and I encourage you to do the same as you read through this. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and make it your own.

When We Do It

The Shepherd’s Supper is simply a special meal, and you can schedule it anytime in December. Some families do it during the week of Christmas or even on Christmas Eve. For us, Christmas Eve is reserved for extended family, and it’s always been our big celebration—full meal, presents, the whole thing. So we save the Shepherd’s Supper for Christmas Day in the evening, which feels like the quiet, reflective end to the holiday.

But truly, you could do this on December 10th, December 18th, or whenever your schedule allows. It can also be a beautiful way to start the Christmas season if that works better for you.

The Heart Behind the Tradition

As we think about the night Jesus was born, the shepherds play such a beautiful role in the story. They were the very first to hear the news of His birth, visited by an angel while they were watching their flocks at night. After hearing the announcement, they hurried to Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. Then they became the first evangelists, joyfully spreading the news of what they had witnessed.

This tradition is a way to bring that moment to life. During the meal, we read the Christmas story—specifically the part about the shepherds, the angelic announcement, and their journey to see the newborn King. The goal is to create an atmosphere that feels a little like being outside under the night sky, imagining what it might have been like to be in their place. That’s the foundation of the Shepherd’s Supper, and from there you can adapt it however works best for your family.

Before explaining exactly how we do it in our home, I want to share a portion from Sally Clarkson’s blog about how her family began this tradition. She started it when she had just one child, looking for a simpler Christmas Eve meal because Christmas Day itself tended to be fuller and busier. Here’s an excerpt of what she wrote:

“I also thought that instead of focusing all of our time, energy, and excitement on “presents” and stockings, that on Christmas Eve, we could really ponder the heart of Christ through his first coming to the shepherd’s with a heavenly chorus, finding a humble mama nursing, tenderly cuddling her baby and remembering that Jesus came for all people—the high, the lowly, educated, pious and ungodly alike. We pondered and both agreed that the glory of Christ appearing to common men and women, shepherding their flocks was something we wanted to copy—the glory of angels singing amidst the ordinary work of shepherds watching over their flocks. And so, Shepherd’s meal became a sacred, mug-loved tradition for all of us.”

How We Set the Scene

So, what makes this meal special in our home?

When we do our Shepherd’s Supper, we turn off all the lights downstairs and eat entirely by candlelight. Kids think this is magical—and honestly, as an adult, it feels sacred and peaceful too. We place candles on the dining table and the countertops (always keeping safety in mind, especially with little ones around). The soft glow instantly makes the meal feel different and memorable.

What We Serve

We keep the food incredibly simple. For our family, the Shepherd’s Supper is a board meal, almost like a charcuterie spread but with things everyone enjoys. My goal is easy, no cooking required—especially because I usually host a big Christmas meal the day before.

Some of the things we’ve included:

Cheese and crackers
Fruit
Nuts
Pirate’s Booty
Little gummy snacks for the kids
A tiny jar of honey (Colin’s absolute favorite last year—he still talks about getting to eat honey with a tiny spoon!)
Pimento cheese with crackers, which was mine and Adam’s favorite

We serve everything on a large wooden board made from wood from my dad’s sawmill business. It’s a special family piece we had created after he passed away, and using it adds another layer of meaning.

You can set this up however works for your home—on the dining table, on a coffee table while sitting on the floor, even on a picnic blanket with candles kept safely up on the counter.

If you have small kids, embrace the unpredictability. Last year, Colin was three, and he decided the candlelight made things “too dark.” We ended up turning the Christmas tree lights on, then the hallway lights, then off again… at one point the kitchen lights were on, then off, then on again.

And that’s okay. Some kids may not like certain parts of it at first. Some might love it immediately. The beauty is in trying something meaningful and letting it evolve into a tradition your family grows into over time.

Reading the Christmas Story

At some point during the meal, we read the Christmas story—specifically the shepherds’ part, from the angel’s announcement to their journey to find Jesus. We talk about what that might have been like and how remarkable their role in the story is.

Last year, we read from The Jesus Storybook Bible, which we love and recommend for young kids. You can also read straight from Scripture, but the Jesus Storybook Bible is especially engaging for little ones. When Colin was three, the story really clicked for him in a new way, which made the whole moment feel even more special.

Colin was so engaged last year with the idea that we were like the shepherds: reading their story, imagining their journey, and talking about Jesus together. He absolutely loved it. Ethan, who was only nine months old, had his own sweet version of enjoying the experience. He sat in his high chair sampling new cheeses, taking in the candlelight, and soaking up all the excitement. Even though the impact is bigger for an older child, little ones still get to experience their own kind of wonder.

We also take time to pray together as a family. Everyone gets a chance to pray, and we just enjoy being together in the candlelight. It feels different from our usual dinners at home (in the best way). You don’t have to travel or plan something elaborate to create a meaningful memory. This simple shift in atmosphere turns an ordinary evening into something your kids will remember.

When it comes to the food, do whatever works for your family. The Clarkson family, where I originally learned about this tradition, does a fruit plate and soup. You can go that route, or you can make a board of your kids’ favorite foods and your own favorite treats. I still haven’t decided exactly what I’m doing this year, but I’ll probably choose things that feel like little seasonal treats for the boys, plus a few special things Adam and I really love. Sometimes it ends up being a mix of “fancy” items alongside kid favorites like Annie’s fruit snacks—which is why I joke that it’s a charcuterie board, but also not really.

This quickly became one of our favorite Christmas memories and a tradition we plan to continue as our kids grow. The food might change, but the candlelight and the Christmas story remain at the heart of it. And Colin has already been talking about how excited he is for this year’s Shepherd’s Supper.

We now do a similar tradition for Easter that we call the Lord’s Supper. It’s the same idea with a spring twist, different foods, and a focus on the Easter story. It has already become another meaningful tradition for our family.

Tradition #2: Wandering Wisemen

The second tradition we love, especially for younger kids, is something we call Wandering Wisemen.

In the Christmas story, the wise men followed the star of Bethlehem in search of Jesus, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I love this tradition because it creates daily opportunities to talk about that part of the story. Every morning, it opens the door to conversations about Jesus’ birth, His life, and really any part of His story you want to explore. It’s hard to fully explain without doing it yourself, but once you try it, you’ll see how naturally it sparks meaningful moments.

To do this, you’ll need a nativity set (any nativity set). A friend recently texted me asking how we do Wandering Wisemen because she wanted to start it with her kids. And she mentioned that there’s now an actual product called Wandering Wisemen. I had no idea! We started doing this years ago after I stumbled across a blog post while looking for an alternative to Elf on the Shelf. That’s where I got the name.

You absolutely do not need a special product or anything expensive to do this tradition. Use whatever nativity you already have.

We use the same old-school nativity set I grew up with as a little girl. The figurines are breakable—some are even chipped or cracked at this point—but I love the tradition of using it. It has Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, animals, and the wise men. Just a classic nativity.

We set it up in a central spot in the house where the kids can play with it as much as they want. The only pieces that don’t go out right away are baby Jesus and the three wise men. Baby Jesus doesn’t appear until Christmas morning, and the wise men begin their “journey” around the house starting in early December.

Right now, as I’m recording this, baby Jesus and the wise men are tucked away on a high shelf in my office closet—waiting for their moment.

When We Start

We usually begin around December 1st. You can start earlier, but in my experience, stretching the activity too long can wear everyone out. I think a few weeks before Christmas is the perfect length.

Each morning, the wise men move to a new location in the house for the kids to find. You can keep the three of them together or separate them—whatever works best for your kids’ ages and personalities.

When we first started this with Colin, he was around two. At that age, he wasn’t “hunting” for them, he just wanted to walk over and see where they were. So we placed them somewhere obvious and kept it simple.

Last year, when he was three, we turned it into more of a search. We hid them a little better and gave hints. This year, since Colin is really into “I Spy,” we may separate the wise men on some days so he has a challenge while Ethan (who is about to turn two) gets an easier spot. Sofia, being a baby, won’t participate yet, but she’ll eventually join in.

The Journey to Christmas Morning

Throughout December, the wise men get “closer” to the nativity scene. Then on Christmas morning, the kids wake up to find the wise men finally in the stable—and baby Jesus in the manger for the first time. It creates such a sweet moment and another chance to revisit the Christmas story.

Making It Fun (and Realistic)

Some mornings, the kids are excited about finding the wise men; other mornings, they’re less enthusiastic (and that’s totally fine). You can place the wise men anywhere:

At the breakfast table
In the fridge
Sitting above the microwave
In front of the TV
“Reading” a book

If this sounds a little like Elf on the Shelf, that’s because the rhythm is similar (the characters move at night, the kids find them in the morning). But this takes the same sense of fun and ties it directly to your faith and the Christmas story.

And if doing it every day feels exhausting, shorten the timeframe. Start two weeks before Christmas, or even just the week of. It’s completely flexible.

For our family, Wandering Wisemen has become our alternative to Elf on the Shelf. Maybe we’ll add the elf later if the kids ask someday—especially as school influences what they hear—but for now, the wise men are plenty of magic for all of us.

A New Tradition We’re Adding This Year: Daily Advent Reading

There’s one more Christmas traditions for Christians we’re trying for the first time this year. I’ve attempted versions of this before, but the boys were always a little too young for it to stick. This year, we’re going to do a daily Advent reading as a family using The Jesus Storybook Bible.

The team behind the book actually has a free advent reading plan online with a story assigned to each day from December 1st through Christmas. I’ve already printed the list and pinned it in our kitchen. I’m planning to buy Sofia her own copy of the Storybook Bible so she’ll have one to follow along with someday, and the boys will each have theirs too. It’s turned into a whole thing… everyone wants their own book during reading time!

We’ll aim to read the day’s story together at breakfast or dinner, depending on our schedule. I’m realistic, we’ll probably miss days here and there, and that’s completely fine. I might even start in late November just to give us a little buffer.

As much as this is for the kids, it’s also for me and Adam. If you’ve listened to past Christmas episodes, you know I love doing an Advent devotional every year. Some years I keep up with it more easily than others. This year, with a newborn and no real morning routine of my own, I’ll probably choose a short personal devotional. But I love that the family readings give all of us a chance to pause together and talk about Scripture in a simple, meaningful way.

And if you decide to try Shepherd’s Supper, Wandering Wisemen, or the Advent readings, I’d genuinely love to hear about it. Send me a message, DM me on Instagram, or email me—I always enjoy hearing how your families make these traditions your own.

Links Mentioned:

Other Christmas episodes to tune in to over the holiday season:

Episode 297: How to Plan for Christmas to Avoid the Overwhelm
Episode 296: 7 Christmas Tradition Ideas for the Whole Family (+ How to Bring Jesus into Your Home for the Holiday/Advent Season)
Episode 191: How to Actually REST This Christmas Season as a Business Owner (Taking Time Off, Holiday Bucketlists, and Business Dreaming)

Thanks to our blog sponsor, Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM)!

CHM is a faith-based alternative to health insurance—at about half the cost. You can enroll at any time and join a proven, faith-based solution that’s both reliable and affordable.

Beyond birth, CHM has helped us through ER visits, surgeries, and procedures. Those bills were shared by other CHM members, leaving us responsible only for our monthly contribution.

I can’t recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries enough! It’s more than financial help—it’s also spiritual support when you need it most.

Learn more here! And if you’d like to hear our full story, check out episode 305 of The Breakthrough Brand Podcast, where Adam and I dive into our experience with CHM.

The post 2 Christmas Traditions for Christians Who Want To Bring Jesus Into The Season appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

Can You Make Money From a New Podcast? The Money Conversation Every Podcaster Should Have

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 14 minutes

Can you make money from a new podcast? Can you make money from any podcast? Most people start a podcast with no real idea of how, or even if they’ll ever make money from it. Then they’re surprised when it isn’t profitable later on.

Knowing your long-term monetization strategy from the start changes everything: how you structure your episodes, what calls to action you use, and ultimately who your audience becomes. So I want to encourage you to think about and plan for this before you start your podcast.

But if you’ve already launched your show and you’re within those first 20 episodes, or even if you’ve been podcasting for a while and you’re thinking, “Elizabeth, I’ve been doing this for some time, but I’m not making any money and I don’t know why” this episode is for you too.

We’re going to work on a plan to make money from your podcast now—better late than never.

I also want to say this: your podcast doesn’t have to be profitable from day one. It’s also completely fine to start a podcast as a hobby with no plans to make money from it. You just need to be clear with yourself that that’s your intention.

So in this short episode, from one podcaster who’s been doing this for a long time to another, I’m sharing how to make a simple money plan for your show before you start it.

This comes from someone who’s produced over 320 episodes and who created this kind of plan before ever hitting record. I had a clear vision of how the show would generate income from day one and I’m still here, six years later, loving podcasting. I think that early planning made all the difference.

So let’s dive in.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 324!

All right, guys—let’s have the money conversation that every podcaster needs to have.

You don’t need to make money from your show on day one. It’s great if you do, but it’s not a requirement. What is important is knowing where you’re headed. You need a game plan—a vision and strategy that guides you as you record episodes, launch your show, create marketing assets, and build your email list.

You should have clear steps in place to move you toward monetization. Ask yourself: How will I bring people from the podcast app into my world (whatever that world looks like)?

This kind of planning doesn’t have to take hours, but it can completely change how you show up for your podcast and how you show up for it.

The idea of making money from your podcast is something I’m really passionate about, because it’s something I’ve done successfully in my own business. My podcast is a huge asset—it allows me to sell my own products, earn through affiliate marketing, and partner with sponsors. It’s not a financial burden dragging my business down; it’s something that lifts it up. And beyond that, it’s genuinely fun for me.

I feel so strongly about this because I see so many podcasters give up. They shut their shows down or switch to a paid-membership-only model because they’re thinking, “I love doing this, but I’m not making any money. What’s the point?”

That’s why, in my course, Podcast Success Blueprint, I put a big emphasis on monetization. Most podcasting courses only include one or two quick videos on making money, and then they move on. The main focus tends to be: Get the show live. Launch it. Submit it to Apple and Spotify.

And while that’s important, it’s also a huge mistake to stop there, because monetization matters just as much.

When I first created my course, about a year ago now, I made sure monetization wasn’t an afterthought. I noticed it was missing from so many other programs, and I wanted to change that. If you’re putting in the time to record, edit, market, and publish your show, you deserve to see a return on that effort.

So in Podcast Success Blueprint, there’s an entire module dedicated to this topic, called Make Money Podcasting. In that module, I go really deep to help you think strategically about the financial side of your show. So if that sounds interesting to you, definitely check out my podcast course here.

But for now, I want to guide you through three steps to get clarity on your money plan for your podcast. Once we go through them, I’ll also share a few reflection questions to help you think through this even more. I’d encourage you to grab a journal or open a blank Google Doc afterward and brainstorm your answers.

Step One: Decide on Your Goal

The first question to ask yourself is:

Is your podcast a marketing tool for your business, a community builder, or a standalone business?

Most podcasts fit primarily into one of these categories—sometimes there’s overlap, but usually one serves as the foundation. So, let me explain some of those with a few examples to help you think about which category is right for you.

Using your podcast as a marketing tool

My own podcast is a marketing tool for an already existing business. This is probably the most common type of podcast, and it’s also the category that most of my podcast students fall into.

An example of this would be a show that serves as a marketing tool for a business that already exists. That business could sell literally anything—it could be selling courses, websites and design services, or even physical products. It could really be anything, but the key is that the podcast is a marketing tool for that business.

Using your podcast as a community

A community podcast is often what you see when you think of an influencer who has a show. These are usually interview-heavy podcasts that revolve around a specific niche or interest. In this case, you’re probably not selling your own products—at least not yet. Maybe you’ll do that eventually but for now, the monetization usually comes from ads and affiliate marketing. These types of shows tend to be very ad-driven.

Using your podcast as a standalone business

Then there’s the standalone business model. This is where the podcast itself is the foundation of the business. The business starts because the podcast starts. You may eventually add other offers, but the podcast is essentially the product—the source of the business. Often, the name of the podcast and the name of the business are the same.

Basically, figuring out which of these three categories you fall into will help you determine what role your show plays in your overall business strategy.

And again, you don’t have to overthink this one. Is your podcast a marketing tool, a community builder, or a standalone business? You probably already know which one it is.

Like I said, the marketing tool model is the most common—but I’ll share this: I actually have another podcast and business idea that’s been on my heart and mind, something I plan to start in the next few years. I’ll keep the details a secret for now, but when I think about that idea, because I’ve already done this step of planning, it definitely falls into the standalone business category, where the podcast itself would be the foundation of the business.

The podcast you’re listening to right now, though, is a marketing tool for my current business.

So anyway, get clear on which one of those you are and what your goal is for your show.

Step Two: Pick Your Monetization Model

This is a big one. Your monetization model represents what you’re working toward, even if it’s not what’s happening in your first few episodes. From day one, you’re planting seeds that align with your long-term income strategy. This is your vision for how your show will eventually make money.

In my course, Podcast Success Blueprint, I teach sixteen different ways to monetize a podcast. They fall into a few larger categories, and the great thing is, you can absolutely use multiple models at once—I do that myself on this show.

So don’t feel boxed into one path. For example, if you’ve identified your podcast as a community builder, you don’t have to stick to one monetization method forever. Each season of your show, or each phase of your business, can use different strategies.

There are so many ways to earn from your podcast, but to get your ideas flowing, here are three that I personally use:

Selling your own offers
Sponsorships
Affiliate marketing

Now, think about your show’s vision. Which of these makes sense from day one? Which might you grow into over time?

When I say “from day one,” I don’t mean you have to be making money right away—it just means you’re laying the groundwork for that goal in your first few episodes.

If your podcast is a marketing tool for an existing business, selling your own offers is a great place to start. Mention your products or services naturally and consistently. It can be part of your early content strategy.

If you don’t yet have offers but plan to create them, you might begin by focusing on email list growth. That way, when your product or service is ready, you already have an engaged audience to sell to.

If you already have a strong following or great industry connections, sponsorships might make sense early on. Maybe you expect your show to gain traction quickly or have potential partners in mind—great, that’s an opportunity.

And finally, affiliate marketing. This is one I recommend for everyone. It’s simple to implement and works naturally within your content. I go into detail on how to do this inside Podcast Success Blueprint, but it’s one of the easiest, most flexible ways to start generating income as your audience grows.

If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing and you’re thinking, “I’ve heard of it, but what exactly is it?”—let me explain.

Affiliate marketing is similar to sponsorships in that you’re promoting another company, but it’s different because there’s no formal contract or upfront payment involved. Instead of a company paying you a set amount to mention them, you share a special link or coupon code that’s tied to you as an affiliate.

When someone makes a purchase or signs up through your link, you earn a commission. In other words, you only make money when the company makes money. It’s a win-win: they gain a new customer, and you get paid for driving that sale.

I absolutely love affiliate marketing, and I think every podcaster should use it in some way.

Now, just to help you visualize how all of this works in practice, let me walk you through how I’m personally using all three monetization methods—selling my own offers, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing—in this very episode.

You’ve probably noticed that while I’m teaching and sharing valuable content, I’ve also naturally woven in references that support my business financially. None of it (hopefully!) feels pushy or distracting—it’s just part of how the episode flows.

So, here’s how I’m doing each one:

Promoting my own products

I’ve mentioned my course, Podcast Success Blueprint, several times throughout this episode. That’s intentional. It fits naturally with the topic, and it’s something I truly believe helps my audience.

When you host your own show, don’t shy away from mentioning your expertise or your offers. If you’re teaching on a topic, it only makes sense to let listeners know how they can go deeper with you—whether that’s through a course, a service, or a product. You’re serving them by giving them the next step.

Sponsorships

If you’re listening to this episode within about two months of its release, I’m currently in the middle of a sponsorship partnership with a company I absolutely love: Christian Healthcare Ministries. I’ve partnered with them three times now on multi-month sponsorships, and it’s been such a great fit for both sides.

So, let’s talk more about that sponsorship. Christian Healthcare Ministries is amazing—they’re actually the company my family uses for our healthcare. We’re a family of five, and they’ve been such a great fit for us.

Right now, I have a multi-month partnership with them that includes not only podcast ads but also some social media content and other promotional elements.

That’s something I want you to think about, too: podcast sponsorships don’t have to be limited to just an ad read. You can create deals that include more deliverables and bring extra value to both you and the company.

If you’re listening to this episode close to its release, you’ve probably heard that ad—or maybe you’ll hear it later in the episode. I use dynamic ad insertion, which is a method I highly recommend and also teach inside my course. In my opinion, it’s one of the best ways to handle podcast ads in 2025, 2026, and beyond.

Affiliate Marketing

Now, for the third monetization method: affiliate marketing.

I haven’t mentioned any affiliate links in this specific episode yet, but when it makes sense, I do. I try to keep it natural and relevant and not push it. If there’s a product or service I genuinely use and love, I’ll mention it and share my affiliate link or discount code.

Inside Podcast Success Blueprint, I teach how to set up an affiliate system that makes this process simple—so you always have your links and codes ready and can easily share them in your episodes.

If you go back and listen to other episodes of my show, you’ll hear me weave in affiliate mentions organically. I also use pre-recorded ads that point listeners to my Tools and Resources page—a page on my website where I list all the companies I’m an affiliate for, along with any special discounts or codes my listeners can use.

So there you have it, three monetization methods, all demonstrated right here in this episode:

And remember, those are just the beginning. There are many more creative and niche ways to monetize, which I cover in detail inside my course.

So, before you even hit record, take some time to map out a general monetization plan. Ask yourself:

What can I aim toward long-term?
Is there an affiliate I could mention early on?
Is there one of my own products that fits naturally into this topic?
Could I offer a freebie in this episode that helps me collect email addresses from day one?

Thinking about these things in advance helps you record those early episodes with purpose and direction.

Now, even though I don’t think you should put too much pressure on your early episodes, it’s still worth being intentional with them. Here’s why: when your show is new and doesn’t have many episodes yet, people often go back and start listening from episode one—even if your show doesn’t need to be heard in order.

That means those early episodes can end up being some of your most-listened-to over time. So it’s a great opportunity to start implementing your monetization ideas right from the beginning.

And if that thought feels intimidating—like, “Oh my gosh, what if someone listens to my first episode a year from now, and I’ve gotten so much better since then?”—don’t stress. You can always replace the audio later. Keep the episode in the feed, but upload an updated version whenever you’re ready.

I just really want to encourage you to think about these things early on because it will help your show grow with purpose from the very beginning.

Step Three: Map Your Funnel

Now, “mapping your funnel” might sound a little more complex than it really is. At its core, it’s just about asking:

How will a listener who just found your podcast go deeper with you?

What’s the journey from point A (your show) to point B, C, or D, where they buy from you or connect with you in another meaningful way?

That’s all a funnel really is: a guided path that connects your podcast audience to the rest of your business.

I actually think this part is really fun—it’s like building a web. You have all these different “hubs” in your business, and your goal is to connect them so that people move naturally between them.

For example:

You want the person who listens to your podcast to join your email list.
You want the person who found you through a freebie or blog post to start listening to your podcast.
You want your social media followers to check out both your show and your offers.

It’s all about creating flow between the different entry points into your business so people can engage with you in multiple ways.

There are a lot of ways to structure this, and the best approach will depend on your podcast’s purpose and the way your brain works. Inside my course, I teach a few different funnel models that fit various show types and business goals.

How I’m Putting This Into Practice For A Future Podcast

And, as I mentioned earlier, I have another business idea I plan to start in the future—one where the podcast itself will be the foundation of the business. Funny enough, when I was outlining this episode, I pulled out my business journal (tapping it right here next to me!) and started sketching out how that funnel might look for that future project.

I actually have my journal open right now, and I was looking at an entry dated April 9th of this year. That’s when I did exactly what I’m talking about here: mapping out funnel ideas for a new podcast concept I’ve been dreaming up.

Now, I’m nowhere close to starting this business. I don’t even have a name for it yet—no start date, no launch plan. It’s just an idea I’ve been imagining and developing in my head. But I went ahead and did this “map your funnel” step as part of my broader planning process.

In that journal entry, I wrote out that the foundation of this future business would be free podcast content. Then I listed three specific ways I’d want to monetize that podcast directly. I also mapped out how I’d use email marketing from day one to start building toward those monetization goals—even though, realistically, some of those offers won’t exist when the show first launches.

I even brainstormed potential products that could come later, once the podcast audience is established.

That’s what I mean by mapping out your funnel. Depending on how your brain works, this process might look a little different for you.

You could literally draw arrows like:

Someone discovers you through your podcast → They hear a call to action in an episode that sends them to your website → From there, they book a discovery call or purchase a product, and now they’re a client or customer.

This step is so valuable. You deserve for your podcast to be something you love doing, but also something that contributes to your business, not something that drains it. Ideally, it should function as a marketing tool and a business asset, not an expense.

And I can tell you from experience: I did this same exercise when I started this podcast back in early 2018. I had a clear vision for how a listener could go from hearing an episode to taking action—whether that meant reaching out to hire me as their website designer or purchasing one of my website templates. Those were my offers at the time, and that clarity made all the difference.

So, that’s your third and final step: map out your funnel.

Answer These Questions To Help You Answer "Can I Make Money From a New Podcast?"

Now, I want to encourage you: grab a notebook, open a Google Doc, whatever works best for you, and take a few minutes to brainstorm your monetization plan right now. Think about your goals, your audience, and how your show can naturally lead people deeper into your business.

So here are some reflection questions to go along with the three steps I shared. Use these to guide your brainstorming:

What is your podcast?

Is it a marketing tool for your business, a community builder, or a standalone business? Define this clearly so you can start viewing your show through that specific lens.

What are different ways you can make money from your show?

Dream big here. Maybe right now you’re thinking, “I could never land a major multi-month sponsor.” But what would it look like to work toward that goal? Start mapping out steps in that direction.

How can you move people from point A to point B?

Point A is your podcast—where listeners discover you. Point B is where they become a customer or client. What tools, conversations, or content could help bridge that gap? Think about things like episode ideas, calls to action, or email opt-ins that could guide that journey.

When do you want to start monetizing?

Is it from episode one? After ten episodes? Or maybe never—because it’s purely a hobby for you? Be honest with yourself about your goals.

What can you do right now to build a foundation for monetization?

Even if you’re not ready to sell anything, what’s one small thing you can do from episode one, like starting an email list, to set yourself up for future success?

Write out your answers, and let yourself dream. See where those ideas take you.

And before we wrap up, I just want to say, as someone who’s been podcasting for a long time and genuinely loves it, it’s still such a joy for me. Right now, I’m sitting here recording during my baby’s nap time, and I truly love this work. I want that same experience for you.

Podcasting can be fun, impactful, and deeply rewarding. It lets you connect with people in a unique way, but I know one of the biggest reasons people give up, even when they love it, is because it’s not making money. That’s exactly why I want to help you change that.

If you want to go deeper into how to build a podcast that grows both your business and your income, check out Podcast Success Blueprint. I’d love to have you in the course community, where I teach everything about growing and monetizing your show.

Links Mentioned:

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Thanks to our blog sponsor, Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM)!

CHM is a faith-based alternative to health insurance—at about half the cost. You can enroll at any time and join a proven, faith-based solution that’s both reliable and affordable.

Beyond birth, CHM has helped us through ER visits, surgeries, and procedures. Those bills were shared by other CHM members, leaving us responsible only for our monthly contribution.

I can’t recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries enough! It’s more than financial help—it’s also spiritual support when you need it most.

Learn more here! And if you’d like to hear our full story, check out episode 305 of The Breakthrough Brand Podcast, where Adam and I dive into our experience with CHM.

The post Can You Make Money From a New Podcast? The Money Conversation Every Podcaster Should Have appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

5-Minute Website Audit: Is Yours Helping or Hurting Your Business?

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 11 minutes

Today, we’re talking about your website and just simply whether or not your website is working for you or if it’s hurting your business… because yes, sometimes “just having a website” isn’t the answer and it is possible that if it’s hurting your business, then it would be better to bypass the website altogether (I’m not saying I recommend that, but if it’s really not working for you, that might be your best option until you get one that does!). This quick website audit should help you decide!

Basically, if you’ve ever wondered, “Is my website actually working?” — as in, is it doing the job it’s supposed to — then this is your episode.

Alright friends, we have five questions — basically five elements or components of your website — that we’re looking at today to figure out: is my website helping me or hurting me? And if it’s hurting you, what do you need to do to get things working the right way?

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 323!

Real quick, though, if you’re new here, new to this podcast, or new to me… or maybe you’ve listened to a few episodes but you’re thinking, “I don’t actually know what this girl’s background is — who even is she and why is she talking about this?,” let me give you a 30-second spiel.

I’m Elizabeth. I’ve been a professional website designer for 10 years and a business owner for about 9.5. I’ve designed sites on Squarespace, WordPress, Showit, Weebly, Wix, and even custom-coded sites — you name it.

For the last five-ish years (really more like six or seven — time is a blur), I’ve focused exclusively on Showit. I’ve built custom websites for clients, and I've also sold website templates (which are pre-made sites you buy and customize, or hire someone to customize).

Now, I primarily design and sell website templates at elizabethmccravy.com. And I’ve helped thousands of small business owners with their websites — from people launching their very first site (which is one of my favorite things to celebrate!) to people working on their tenth version, or coming over to my add-on templates after working with another designer.

Okay, little background done. Now let’s get into it. These are the things I look at, based on my experience as a website designer, to figure out whether what you currently have is working for you or if it’s time to change things up. And just a note: changing things up does not always mean starting from scratch. It can be a full overhaul, or it can mean adjusting and adding in a few strategic things.

Step 1: The 30-Second Test

If someone landed on your homepage right now, and we are focusing specifically on your homepage for this, would someone who doesn’t know you immediately understand:

who you are (or what your business is),
what you do, and
who it’s for

within 10–30 seconds?

If the answer is “maybe” or “probably not without clicking around” — that’s your first clue that your site might be confusing people.

You want to make it super obvious what your company does and who it’s for. Your headline, the big text someone sees first, should clearly say what you do. This is not the place to be super cute or overly clever.

Clarity always beats cuteness. Clarity also beats industry jargon your ideal client might not understand. And clarity definitely beats fluffy “word-salad” phrases.

For example, instead of something vague like:

“Making magic happen online”

(which could mean anything), you’d want something clear like:

“Strategic Showit website templates for creative entrepreneurs.”

Same for photographers. Instead of:

“Capturing your beautiful moments from behind the lens”

(which only implies photography), try something like:

“Seaside Florida luxury wedding photographer.”

You're telling the location, the style, and the type of photography and actually using the word photographer.

Getting really specific helps your visitor immediately know, “Okay, this is for me.” That’s when they’ll keep scrolling, or click to another page, or head over to your Instagram or TikTok — whatever they want to do next.

Here’s what I want you to do.

Either do this yourself or ask a friend, your spouse, your roommate — someone who already kind of knows what you do — and say, “Hey, can you scroll my homepage real quick? Do you get what I do?” Send them the link on their phone and just ask: Do you get it or not? If you landed here as a stranger, what question would you have?

Attention spans… they’re wild. Like I said, I’ve been doing websites for 10 years now, and so much has changed. Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter — which honestly bums me out (different conversation for another day!), but it’s true. The rise of short-form video has really changed expectations for how fast people should understand something.

Years ago, when I first started, people had more patience. They might land on a site, not immediately understand it, and think, “Hmm… what’s happening here?” and keep scrolling. They’d give the website a chance.

Now? They don’t. They leave. They close the tab, go back to their Google search, go back to the list ChatGPT gave them, hop back to Instagram — whatever. They move on fast.

That’s why this first step is so important: you need to grab attention through clarity of words and a design that is both functional and beautiful.

So again, that first test: give someone 10-30 seconds on your homepage to understand who you are, what you do, and who it’s for. Pause this episode if you want and send your site link to someone right now. Ask them, “Do you get what I do?”

Step 2: Does the design feel like your brand?

This one is simple — and you probably already have a gut reaction. Does the design of your website still feel like your brand?

Your business evolves over time. Sometimes you need a new look to match where you are now. That’s not a dig at what you had before — it just means you’ve grown. I’ve had many versions of my own site in the last 10 years because my business, my offers, and even how I want to show up have all changed.

So it’s normal for the fonts and colors you once used to not be the right ones anymore.

Here are a few signs it might be time to part with your current design:

You’re using a totally different aesthetic on social media or email than on your site. You updated everywhere else but left the old look on your website. Time to bring your site up to speed.
There's no cohesion on your site. Each page has a different color palette or vibe. Maybe one page looks like one template, another looks like a different template, and another looks custom… nothing feels unified.
Your fonts feel busy or hard to read and it’s confusing for users to figure out where to go next. If you’re unsure, ask a designer or trusted friend, “Does this feel too busy? Is this readable?”
Your site feels like “old you.” You look at it and think, “This was my business five years ago… but it’s not anymore.” Your headlines, offers, tone — they align with an older version of your brand and not who you are now or what you sell today.

Step 3: When is the last time you looked at your website on your phone?

This is a big one: your mobile experience.

Because oh my gosh — this can be a disaster you don't even know is happening. You had the best time designing your site on your desktop, dragging things around in Showit, getting everything just right… and then you completely ignored the mobile layout. And now your mobile site is chaos.

This happens all the time.

I love Showit. I chose it as the platform I design on and for my templates — it’s the only thing I use and recommend. But one of its biggest perks is also a challenge: desktop and mobile are connected, but you still have to manually adjust mobile.

Meaning, you can’t design only on desktop and assume it will magically look perfect on a phone. It won’t. And honestly — that’s actually a good thing. The fact that Showit lets you customize mobile separately is a huge advantage. There are a lot of design decisions you should make differently on mobile versus desktop.

When I design my templates, I almost always simplify and rearrange things for mobile to make the experience smoother. And remember: over 60% of website traffic is mobile.

So why are we ignoring mobile design?! Truly, you could argue we should start with mobile first.

If your text is tiny, buttons overlap, images are cropped weirdly, or the whole thing just feels clunky — that’s a problem.

So, scroll your site on your phone. If you have a giant site, pick key pages to evaluate. Ask yourself:

Is this easy to use?
Does scrolling feel natural?
Can I read the text?
Do buttons work and are they tappable?
Are photos cropped correctly (especially faces)?
Can users clearly see where to go next?

You might not need to check every page on your website on mobile, but you should check these for sure:

Homepage
About page
Blog (blogs often break on mobile!)
One services page or product page

This will tell you whether things need tweaking… or a full mobile overhaul. But bottom line — don’t ignore mobile.

Step 4: Personality & Connection

This one’s huge. And once you have it, your whole website just clicks. It’s like this secret sauce that makes everything feel right.

Ask yourself:

Does your website sound and feel like you?

Or…

does it sound like your copywriter wrote it?
does it sound like ChatGPT wrote it?
does it sound like a mash-up of everyone else in your industry?

If your copy and design feel stiff, generic, or bland, people won't connect. They won’t feel anything.

You want your website to sound like you talk:

on your podcast
in your YouTube videos
in your Instagram Stories
in your DMs
and even in your Instagram carousel captions

It should feel like a real human speaking — you, not a template of “professional website voice.” So, a great website doesn’t just show what you do — it shows who you are as a business or as a person (especially if you’re more of a personal brand).

Look at things like your copy and your photos. Stock photography is totally fine in places — I love high-quality stock photos and videos — but you also want to highlight your own work. So if you're a photographer, yes, most of the images on your site should be yours. And you should also have your face on your website. That personal connection really matters.

People shouldn't have to dig all the way to your About page to see what you look like. Your face should be on your homepage and sprinkled throughout other pages too. That connection goes a long way.

Another piece of this: don’t be afraid to share real details about yourself — things that help someone connect with you beyond your resume. I’ve emphasized this from day one when designing sites, especially for personal brands and service providers. If you are the person they’ll be working with, they want to know you — not just your credentials.

So in my templates, you’ll see an emphasis on creating space to share about yourself — who you are, not just what you do.

And if you’re thinking, “I have no idea what I’d even share” — here are some simple examples:

Do you have pets?
Are you a parent?
Do you practice a specific faith?
What hobbies do you love (even if you think they’re boring)?
What did you do before this career?
How long have you been doing what you do?
Are you married or in a relationship?
What's your Enneagram (if you're into that)?
Favorite books?
Fun quirks or interests?

Those kinds of details build connection.

When I was prepping this episode, I was looking through the Showcase page on my site — I have probably 200+ real examples from customers who’ve used my templates. You can see their sites, testimonials, and which template they chose.

And I want to share one testimonial that really fits what we're talking about — this one is from Marisa Glaser Creative. Shout out to Marisa — her website is amazing.

Here’s what she said about her Elizabeth McCray template:

“This purchase was worth every penny and Elizabeth is definitely going to be my recommended designer for friends looking for Showit templates in the future! Before Elizabeth McCravy Shop, my website was fine but felt like it was missing something. It didn’t feel like a full representation of the quality and quantity of my work as a photographer. I was a little overdue for a portfolio refresh but I wanted to go a step above and add a blog, a resources guide page, more client testimonials, and have better spaces to lay out sales copy for my services. “ - Marisa Glaser Creative

Marisa is such a good example of this — her old website was “fine,” but it wasn’t her. And now? She has a site that actually showcases the quality and quantity of her work and who she is.

Step 5: Is Your Website Doing Its Job?

This one is simple, and again, a bit of a gut check. Is your website doing what it's supposed to do?

Ask yourself: what is the main goal of my website?

Some examples:

Book clients
Sell digital products
Grow your email list
Send people to your podcast or YouTube channel
Get people to buy your book
Capture inquiries / forms

Whatever the goal is: is that happening?

Is your website actually driving that result?

If the answer is no, it's time to adjust. Sometimes the design looks amazing, but the strategy isn't working. Other times the strategy is great but the design isn't supporting it.

And that’s the difference between a site that's just pretty and a site that's actually profitable — strategy + great design.

It may mean a full overhaul, or it may just mean tweaking and updating pieces.

I have one more quick testimonial because it really fits here — this one is from Design Our Travel, a travel agency who used the Alice template. Here’s what she said:

“Before using the Alice template, I was piecemealing each page together, which made my website clunky and unorganized. The Alice template allows my website to still have so many working and moving parts, yet it flows and it's interactive as if I spent thousands of dollars on it. My traffic has increased – people are filling out forms and requesting more information.” - Design Our Travel

Such a great example — her old site wasn't working, it felt pieced together and messy. Now, people are filling out forms, requesting information, and traffic has increased… all huge wins. That’s exactly what we want. Your website shouldn’t just exist because someone told you you “should have a website.” It should actively support your business.

Recap: Your 5-Minute Website Audit

Clarity: Can someone land on your homepage and know who you are, what you do, and who it’s for in 10–30 seconds?
Brand Alignment: Does the design still feel like your brand today? Or like a past version of your business?
Mobile Experience: Have you checked your site on your phone? Is it clean and easy to navigate?
Personality: Does your website sound and feel like you — not AI, not your competitors, not a generic template voice?
Results: Is your website actually doing its job? Is it bringing in leads, clients, sales, traffic, whatever your main goal is?

So if you do this simple test and you're realizing, okay… my website needs some updates, that’s what I’m here for. Truly. If you've enjoyed this podcast and you’ve never checked out my Showit website templates, I really want to encourage you to do that.

I have so many options — because sometimes you really do just need a fresh start and a brand new site, and sometimes you just need a few strategic upgrades. If you already know you need to start fresh, amazing. Let’s do it. If you're not sure, email us with your website link, and we can help you figure it out. We’ll give you honest feedback on whether you need a full new site or if a few add-on templates would give you a big upgrade at a lower cost.

We have add-ons like:

an About-page timeline
service-process steps
a Link-in-Bio page
a quiz template (this is such a great way to grow your email list fast)
podcast pages
landing pages for your opt-ins
sales pages you can customize
a speaker page if you're leaning into speaking or podcast interviews

And then, of course, we have full site templates — a complete website + blog, ready to customize. Think of it like a “website in a box.” They come with pre-selected fonts and colors (which you can absolutely change), and every purchase includes the Showit Blueprint Course that walks you through customizing everything. So if you hear “change fonts and colors” and panic, don’t worry — I walk you through it.

If you're listening to this live, my big Black Friday sale is coming up really soon. If you're looking at 2026 and thinking, This is the year I do the big website upgrade or I need that add-on to really uplevel my business, this is the time to shop. This is my biggest sale of the year.

Head to elizabethmccravy.com/bf (short for Black Friday) to get on the waitlist. Once you sign up, you can forget about it until the sale starts — we’ll email you all the details when it goes live. If you're listening and the sale is already happening, all the info will be on that page.

Links Mentioned:

Get on the waitlist for my Black Friday sale

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

Join Podcast Success Blueprint

Thanks to our blog sponsor, Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM)!

CHM is a faith-based alternative to health insurance—at about half the cost. You can enroll at any time and join a proven, faith-based solution that’s both reliable and affordable.

Beyond birth, CHM has helped us through ER visits, surgeries, and procedures. Those bills were shared by other CHM members, leaving us responsible only for our monthly contribution.

I can’t recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries enough! It’s more than financial help—it’s also spiritual support when you need it most.

Learn more here! And if you’d like to hear our full story, check out episode 305 of The Breakthrough Brand Podcast, where Adam and I dive into our experience with CHM.

The post 5-Minute Website Audit: Is Yours Helping or Hurting Your Business? appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

The Truth About Scaling a Business With Limited Hours (and Little Kids) with Shanna Skidmore

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 20 minutes

You’re in for such a treat with today’s episode! I have the wonderful Shanna Skidmore here to share how to work less, mom more, and still hit your goals. Shanna truly walks the walk — she currently runs her business in just 15 to 20 hours a week while spending the rest of her time with her two girls. You're going to love her advice on scaling a business with limited hours (and little kids at home).

If you’ve heard of Shanna before, you probably know she’s a finance expert. She helps small business owners master their money and is a former Fortune 500 financial advisor — so yes, money is her thing. But on her podcast, Consider the Wildflowers (which I love and have been a guest on), she also talks about the real side of working mom life. Her solo episodes on that topic are some of my favorites — always full of wisdom and practical advice.

When I invited her on, I knew I wanted her to talk about this — because she has such insight and tactical ideas for balancing business and motherhood. Shanna’s actually been on the Breakthrough Brand Podcast before, where we talked about how to run your business without social media. That episode (number 253) is still one of our most-downloaded ever, so definitely go back and listen to it after this one.

And if you want more from Shanna, I was on episode 43 of her podcast Consider the Wildflowers, where I share my business story and how I handle finances in my own company — plus a bit of backstory you might not have heard before. I’ll link both episodes in the show notes for you.

So, get ready to be encouraged by this conversation — the mindset shifts, the practical tips, and Shanna’s honest reflections on navigating work and motherhood with little kids, while letting go of the pressure to “do it all.”

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 322!

While money is usually the topic I’m asked to speak on most, today I’m excited to share something equally close to my heart: motherhood, business, and the role finances play in both.

By nature, I’m an overachiever — driven, perfectionistic, and competitive to the core. I started my career in the world of finance bros, black power suits, and three-inch heels. At the ripe age of 21, I was thrown into an environment that valued more above all else. More money, more recognition, more influence.

It’s not that the finance world didn’t value family; it’s just that the culture I entered was heavily weighted toward success defined by achievement or at least, that’s how I perceived it.

When I started my own company back in 2013, I unintentionally found myself pushing back against that culture. I saw incredible women pursuing their passions, starting and growing businesses to create more flexibility and find that elusive work-life balance only to end up burned out, working late nights, and often barely making a dollar.

The Why Behind Starting a Business

Now, my guess is that you didn’t start your business just for the money, the recognition, or the fame. No shade to any of those things but I doubt they were your main motivation. Yet, in the business world, those same messages I heard early in my finance career are still everywhere: six-figure business, seven-figure business, $100K months.

But when we share numbers without context, it can easily lead to comparison and make us working mamas feel like we’re falling behind. Or maybe that’s just me.

Because honestly, I’m just over here trying to keep the magnet tiles picked up, dinner on the table, and enjoy the work I do in the limited hours I have (while also saving for college, weddings, endless home projects, and of course, seasonal throw pillows).

What I really want is a business that fuels the life I want and I’m guessing you feel the same.

Over the past four years of running a business while raising little ones, I’ve learned that I can’t do it all at least not at the pace I wish I could. In fact, whenever I’ve tried, I end up tired, burned out, and, more often than not, burning dinner.

So the question I want to explore today is this: Can you build a business that fuels both your passion and your paycheck, in limited hours, while raising babies and building the life of your dreams?

This is exactly why I’m so passionate about the work I do with business owners. Because I believe numbers have this powerful way of giving us permission, freedom, and strategy — helping us structure a business that supports the work we love, provides income, and also makes space for the life we want to live.

And at the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Now, please hear me when I say that I’m not here because I have it all figured out. But if you’ll allow me, I’d love to pull back the curtain and share my journey, from starting my business before kids to running it now with little ones at my feet.

I’ll walk you through the mindset shifts, practical systems, and yes, the real numbers (with context!) behind how I’ve continued to grow a multi–six-figure business while working just 15 to 20 hours a week.

At this point in my career, I’ve seen the back end of hundreds, if not thousands, of small businesses, ranging from $1,000 a month to over $10 million a year. It’s such a privilege to see the reality behind the highlight reel. And as I always say, the numbers don’t lie.

Here’s the good news: from my experience, I’ve learned that you don’t need to spend every naptime hustling when what you really need is rest. You don’t need a 60-hour workweek or a massive passive income empire to run a profitable business as a mom.

If you’ve ever wondered how to work less, mom more, and still hit your goals, my hope is that you’ll leave today encouraged (and equipped with practical strategies to do both mom and CEO well).

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

How I run a multi–six-figure business in 15–20 hours a week while raising littles.
Five strategies that have helped me grow revenue without adding more hours.
Three practical tools that keep my business running while I raise my babies.
Some real talk: real numbers and what sustainable growth actually looks like as a mom and CEO.

So let’s dive in.

Scaling a Business With Limited Hours

My business didn’t start with nap schedules and 20-hour workweeks. It began when I had no kids and all the time in the world to pour into my work. But over the years, and especially after becoming a mom, things had to change. The truth is, motherhood changed everything, including my business model.

Ironically, the lessons that serve me most now as a working mom — setting boundaries, defining success, managing my time, and separating my identity from my work — weren’t lessons I learned in motherhood. They were lessons from the early years that prepared me for it.

Those foundational years shaped how I show up now, with limited hours and bigger responsibilities, and I’m so grateful I laid that groundwork.

Before we dive into strategies, let me take you back for a minute to how my business evolved and how those early lessons set me up for sustainable growth today.

When I first started, I didn’t have a roadmap. I was figuring things out as I went — adjusting my pricing, experimenting with offers, saying yes to too much. Before long, I was buried in projects, overpromising, undercharging, and completely stretched thin.

That’s when I learned my first foundational lesson: boundaries matter.

Not just with clients, but with my time, energy, and expectations.

I realized that clarity around my offers, intentional pricing, and a well-protected calendar weren’t just smart business strategies — they were forms of self-preservation. Little by little, I started building a business focused on sustainability and longevity, not just growth.

Because the truth is, you can only run on burnout and adrenaline for so long.

Profitability and manageable workloads aren’t just good for you… they’re good for your business. They help you build something that lasts, so you can keep serving your clients for the long haul.

Fast forward five years, and my business had really taken off. What started as a solo, service-based venture had grown into courses, programs, and digital products. I’d taught thousands of students, was generating more revenue than I ever dreamed possible, and had built a team — six employees plus a group of contractors handling everything behind the scenes.

From the outside, my business looked like a success. And on paper, it absolutely was. But behind the scenes? I was tired. The business had grown so quickly, and while I was proud of what we’d built, I woke up one day and realized my life didn’t look the way I wanted it to.

So, I did something that felt radical at the time — I took an entire year off.

I paused launches, stopped selling, and gave myself permission to just breathe.

During that year, I got pregnant with our oldest daughter. That season taught me one of the most important lessons of my career: how to separate my identity from my business.

I began to believe deeply that my work is just that — work. It’s a job I love and am proud of, but it’s not my entire identity.

Over the past four years, we’ve welcomed two little ones (with another on the way!) — and I’ve continued running a multi–six-figure business while working just 15 to 20 hours a week. This setup allows me to prioritize being a mom, especially in this season with little ones at home.

We’ve intentionally kept our team small, our operations streamlined, and our growth strategy focused. When I became a mom, it wasn’t that everything about my business had to change, it was that the lessons I’d learned in my first eight years suddenly became essential.

Boundaries, clarity, focus, and knowing what matters most — those weren’t optional anymore. I didn’t just want a business that looked successful; I needed one that worked with my life, not against it.

Because here’s the truth:

You can grow a business and raise kids.

You can scale with limited hours.

You can build something you’re proud of without sacrificing everything else that matters to you.

But it doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by intention or, better yet, by strategy.

Looking back over the past 12 years of running a business — four of those with little ones in tow — I can see five guiding strategies that have shaped my growth and helped me do both mom and CEO in a way that feels sustainable and fulfilling.

These strategies aren’t magic tricks or quick wins. They’re steady, intentional choices that have made long-term growth possible for me and I hope they’ll do the same for you.

So, let’s jump into the first one.

1. Start With The Life You Want.

Before you set goals, map out offers, or chase after growth, get clear on the life you want to live.

It might sound cliché, but it’s true — your business should serve your life, not the other way around. Strategic growth always begins with clarity on what you want your life and work to look like.

There’s no one-size-fits-all business model, and that’s a beautiful thing. You get to define what success looks like for you.

So, first, ask yourself: What do I want my life to look like?

Be specific. How much do you want to travel? What do you want your home life to feel like? Do you love cooking and meal prep, or would you rather outsource that? Do you want quiet mornings before your family wakes up? What time do you want to get up and go to bed?

Next, ask: What do I want my business to look like?

What kind of impact do you want to make? How many hours do you want to work? Do you want to work part-time? Who do you want to serve? How big do you want your team to be?

And maybe most importantly: What does being a good mom mean to me?

Does it mean picking your kids up from school? Being at every game? Having slow mornings together? You get to define it. No one else.

Start there. Get clear on what you want from your life and your business.

That’s the first strategy, and in my opinion, the most important one.

2. Do The Math On Your Time And Money

Because time is your most limited and valuable resource — especially as a mom and business owner. Now, I have a course called The Blueprint Model. It’s a strategic growth and financial planning course, and in it, I teach a concept called The Time Bank (one of my absolute favorites to share with my students).

Think about your time like a bank account. You only get so many hours to “spend” each week, and our goal is to always stay positive (not rack up those “NSF fees” with our time).

So, to start, I want you to get clear on how many hours you actually want to work.

For me, in this season of motherhood, I aim for about 20 hours a week. I have two days of childcare, that’s roughly 10 hours, and then every morning I get up a couple of hours before my family wakes up. That gives me my 20 working hours for the week. I call these your time deposits.

Once you know your time deposits, the next step is to brain dump all your tasks and responsibilities. You can do this for home life too, but for now, let’s focus on work.

Write down everything: emails, social media, client communication, travel, meetings, the actual work you deliver — all of it. Then, estimate how much time each task takes.

These are your time withdrawals.

Now, do a little time math.

How many “deposits” — hours — do you have each week? And how much time do all your “withdrawals” — your tasks — actually take?

For me, that’s 20 hours of deposits. Then I look at how much time everything on my plate requires. Again, you can do this for home tasks too.

At the end of the week, ask yourself: are you positive or negative in your time bank?

I think so many of us feel rushed, hurried, or like we’re always behind. I often feel that way myself. And every time I do, I sit down and redo this exercise. Seeing it in black and white helps me understand why I’m overwhelmed, and usually, it’s because I’ve simply taken on too much.

I’ll share a few practical tips later for keeping your time bank in the positive, but for now, just know: this exercise has been incredibly eye-opening for me.

3. Get Strategic With Your Offers

When you only have 15–20 hours a week to work, not all offers are created equal.

One of the best shifts I ever made was getting brutally honest about how much time each offer actually took and how profitable it was. (And side note: whether or not I even enjoyed doing it!)

The truth is, business models can look a lot of different ways.

A wedding photographer might take on 10 weddings a year at $10,000 each and make $100,000. Another photographer might not want to work weekends at all, so they do three portrait sessions a week at $650 each which is also $100,000 a year.

That’s what I mean by designing a business model that works for you — your life, your interests, your goals — not forcing your life to fit a business that just looks good on paper.

Let me give you an example from one of my students that perfectly illustrates this.

She’s a calligrapher. Her highest-revenue offer was custom calligraphy (beautiful, detailed work that paid well per project). But she also had a shop selling calligraphy pens and kits, which were priced much lower. So to make the same amount, she’d have to sell a lot more of them.

Naturally, she put most of her time into her high-ticket custom projects because they brought in more per client. But when she did her time bank math, she realized how many hours those custom jobs were consuming.

So she made a shift. She started focusing more on her shop — products that were quicker to fulfill, easier to scale, and still profitable. Within 30 days, her monthly sales jumped from $2,000 to $20,000… simply by reallocating her time toward the offers that gave her the best return.

That’s the power of strategy.

By being intentional about her offers, she multiplied her income without increasing her hours.

So after I clarified my time and my vision for my life and business, this became my next step too: get strategic with my offers.

Ask yourself:

What’s working and what’s not?
Which offers give you the best return on your time?
Which ones do you actually enjoy?

Focus your energy there especially if your time is limited.

4. Delegate Like a CEO Even if It’s Just You

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: ask for help.

Whether it’s outsourcing your laundry, hiring a virtual assistant, or bringing in childcare, growing a business with limited hours requires support (usually more than you think).

But the question is: how, when, and what should you delegate?

So, you want to start by identifying the tasks that only you can do or the ones that are most important for you to do.

I know that’s easier said than done, but with practice, it really does get easier.

For example, in my own business, I know that I’m the visionary. Financial reporting and strategy are how my brain works best, so I want to spend time improving our financial reports for CFO clients. I want to refine my course, The Blueprint Model, and build out new spreadsheets and reporting tools for our shop.

I’m also the face of the brand. That means carving out time, and honestly, I love carving out time, to spread the word about what we do. I enjoy being a guest on podcasts like this one, writing and recording content for our own podcast and blog, and creating long-form SEO content. I also love connecting with and serving our audience through our weekly newsletter.

Those are the things I’ve identified as the most valuable tasks for me — the ones only I can do. Everything else, I work to get off my plate.

In The Blueprint Model, I teach this process using something we call the Time Matrix. It’s a simple framework that helps you categorize your tasks into four quadrants:

Eliminate
Automate
Delegate
Prioritize (or keep)

First, once you’ve identified your key responsibilities (that you are prioritizing/keeping), look for what you can eliminate. These are tasks that don’t add value to you, your clients, or your business.

For me, one of those was social media. Back in 2017, I quit social media entirely. It’s not that it isn’t valuable, it just wasn’t the most useful for my business or my time. I realized that my energy was better spent elsewhere, so I eliminated it.

Next, automate whatever you can.

Automation can be simple, even silly but it makes a difference.

For example:

My nanny always washes our bedsheets on Mondays. I never have to think about it.
We always order takeout on Thursday nights. I don’t cook that night, and I love it.
I meal prep and grocery shop on Friday mornings.
In our business, we automate podcast guest follow-ups using a tool called Dubsado.

The more you can automate, the less mental energy you spend on repetitive decisions.

And finally, delegate.

If a task can’t be eliminated or automated, and it’s not the best use of your time, delegate it.

Start small. Hire someone to manage your inbox or schedule client calls. Bring on a part-time virtual assistant. Hire childcare, even if it’s just a few hours a week. And if a traditional sitter isn’t an option, think creatively. I’ve had students who trade childcare days with a neighbor: one mom watches all the kids one day, the other takes them the next.

In my business, we have contractors who handle podcast editing, blog post formatting, Pinterest management, and email support.

And of course, since we’re a finance company, we manage our own books in-house but for most small businesses, hiring a bookkeeper is one of the best early investments you can make.

Outside of business, think about delegating household responsibilities too.

A house cleaner, a nanny, or even using grocery pickup or meal delivery services like HelloFresh, Kroger ClickList, or Target curbside — those count as delegation too.

Delegation isn’t just about outsourcing tasks; it’s about protecting your time for the work and relationships that matter most.

When you do this well, you create space — space for creativity, strategy, family, and rest.

I know it can be really hard to ask for help, and even harder to pay for help, especially when your budget feels tight. Limited work hours can feel frustrating, and I completely understand that.

But honestly, having limited time has forced me to get crystal clear on what truly matters most — and to find creative ways to both pay for and delegate tasks. That’s been one of the biggest mindset shifts in my journey.

5. Do Less, but Better

When you’re short on time, doing more is not the answer. Doing the most important things really well — that’s the answer.

For me, that means focusing on just one, two, or maybe three core offers — the ones that are the most profitable, the most impactful, and the most enjoyable for me to deliver. Then I go all in.

Refine your systems.

Optimize your delivery.

Raise your prices as your value grows.

I see so many entrepreneurs stretched thin — juggling too many offers with clunky systems that waste precious time. But when you simplify, when you focus on one thing, optimize it, then move to the next, you create smoother systems, save time, and increase profitability.

It’s the same with marketing.

You don’t need to be everywhere. Choose one, maybe two or three marketing strategies that you love and that actually move the needle for your business. Maybe it’s a podcast, a blog, or a YouTube channel. Maybe it’s a simple weekly newsletter.

For me, it’s long-form SEO content and speaking.

Now, I know speaking isn’t technically the most profitable thing I do on paper, but it’s my favorite marketing tool. I love being with people, sharing on stage, and connecting through conversation. It’s great for our brand, and it fills me up — that matters too.

When you simplify, you create space for mastery.

And mastery brings better results, better clients, and more profit.

Before I send you off, I want to give you three practical tools I use to keep my business running smoothly, week after week while balancing both motherhood and entrepreneurship.

Practical Tool #1: Set Real Work Hours (and Respect Them)

I have friends who integrate home and work life beautifully. I tried that for a while… and realized it just doesn’t work for me.

I don’t like the “nap-time hustle” — rushing to my computer the second my kids go down, or feeling frustrated when naps don’t happen as planned. That constant juggling left me exhausted.

For me, I prefer clear separation between work time and home time. When my kids nap, I want to be unloading the dishwasher, picking up toys, reading a book, or just sitting quietly — not answering emails.

Early in my business, I started tracking my time religiously with a tool called Toggl, almost as if I were billing by the hour. And I’ve been using it ever since — 12 years now!

That practice has given me deep insight into how long tasks actually take me.

So when I decided to keep work and home life separate, I knew I needed to set real work hours and respect them.

For me, that doesn’t necessarily mean 10–2 on certain days. My schedule shifts depending on the week, especially if we’re traveling or taking time off. But my goal is to clock 20 hours per week.

That’s my sweet spot and Toggl helps me stay accountable to that.

When I track my hours honestly, I can see what fits into 20 hours… and what doesn’t. That clarity helps me “clean house” — cutting back, simplifying, and focusing only on what truly matters.

For instance, I know that writing long-form content, whether that’s guest blogs, podcast interviews, or solo podcast episodes, is a priority for me. But I also know I’m slow at it, so I plan my time accordingly.

I’m very thorough. It takes me about five hours to write one blog post or one solo podcast episode. And when you only have 20 hours a week to work, that’s 25% of my time — every single week!

So if that’s my one form of marketing, it has to work, right?

Tracking my time in this way has helped me stay realistic about where my energy goes and make sure I’m focusing on the tasks that actually move the needle… the things in my zone of genius.

I look at:

How much time I need to improve and update our course, The Blueprint Model
How much time I need to prep for launches
How much time I need to write our newsletter
How many client calls I can realistically take each week

Tracking my time has given me incredible clarity. It keeps me honest about what I can and cannot take on, and it allows me to direct my focus toward the work that actually moves the business forward.

Practical Tool #2: Plan Your Tasks in Advance and Focus on the Most Important First

I use a tool called Asana for this, and I absolutely love it.

I get overwhelmed trying to keep a running to-do list in my head. I don’t like constantly thinking, “What have I forgotten? What ball have I dropped? What do I need to do tomorrow?”

So years ago, I started using Asana to plan everything and it’s been a game changer.

Big tasks, tiny tasks, random brain dumps — they all go into Asana. I can assign things to my team members, set deadlines for myself, or just park ideas on a “tackle later” list so they’re not cluttering my brain.

And yes, I love the fun part, when you complete a task, a little mythical creature flies across the screen. It’s silly but satisfying!

At the end of every work session (and I call them sessions because my schedule shifts week to week), I take a few minutes to review what’s on my list and choose the one, two, or three priorities I’ll tackle first the next time I sit down to work.

And here’s the hardest part: I start with the hardest or most important task first.

I’m naturally drawn to quick wins and I love checking boxes as much as anyone. But I’ve learned that the hard stuff usually matters most.

One of my friends calls the easier, low-pressure tasks “wine tasks” — the things you can do later in the day when your energy is lower or interruptions are more likely. I save those for later and knock out the tough, high-impact work first.

This one simple practice — putting everything in Asana, getting it out of my head, and choosing what to focus on next — has made me dramatically more productive and calm.

For me, that’s Asana.

Practical Tool #3: Know Your “Enough Number”

You’re going to be sad we can’t spend more time here because this one is my favorite — it’s the financial philosophy I’ve become known for.

Knowing your “Enough Number” means creating a clear, realistic budget for both your home and your business.

This is truly the most practical and freeing tool I use to make both mom life and CEO life work together.

I know, down to the penny, how much our family needs to live and how much my business needs to run. And I focus solely on hitting those numbers.

Knowing what “enough” looks like gives me permission to rest, to stop hustling, to let go of the fear that I’m falling behind. Especially in a season where I want to watch my babies grow more than I want to watch my business grow.

So what does this look like in practice?

If you have no idea what your sales goal or “enough number” is, start here:

Sit down and figure out how much you need to contribute to your household this year. That’s it. Start there.

Call it your salary, your owner’s draw — whatever term fits your business. But identify that number.

That number — the amount you need to contribute to your home — might be zero, or it might be $100,000.

From there, the next step is to figure out how much it costs to run your business. Once you know those two numbers, you can reverse-engineer your goal with simple math:

What you need to make (your personal income)

What it costs to run your business

= Your sales goal — or what I call your Enough Number.

This is the total amount of revenue your business needs to bring in to cover all your expenses and pay yourself what you want to earn.

Simply put, your Enough Number is the sweet spot where ambition and contentment meet.

Knowing this number gives me so much peace of mind.

If I want to try a new offer, or if I happen to have extra capacity and want to stretch for a bigger goal, I can absolutely do that but I know I don’t have to.

Inside my financial planning course, The Blueprint Model, I teach my students to identify three numbers:

Your Need Number: what you need to live.
Your Want Number: what provides comfort and flexibility.
Your Reach-for-the-Stars Number: your big stretch goal.

But at the end of the day, simply knowing your Enough Number gives you the clarity and permission to rest.

I know that if I hit that number, I’m providing for my family, my business is healthy, and I can exhale. It’s incredibly freeing.

This, without a doubt, is my most practical and most powerful tool.

I’m not stressed about money, because I know exactly what I need to hit. That focus keeps me grounded and calm.

And if you’re listening and thinking, “Shanna, I have no idea where to start. I’ve never made a budget for my business or my home. Money gives me the sweats,” — I’ve got you covered.

I have a free 30-minute class here, or if you’d rather dive straight into the tools I use myself, I also have two simple one-year budget templates (one for home and one for business) available in my shop.

You don’t need a complicated system just something that helps you use the hours you do have wisely.

For me, that looks like:

Tracking my time with Toggl
Planning my work with Asana
Defining “enough” with clear home and business budgets

These three practical tools keep me grounded. They’re simple, effective, and most importantly, they help me run a business that supports my life, not the other way around.

They help me be present when I’m momming, and be focused when I’m working so I can do both well.

When you know where your time is going, what matters most each week, and how much money is enough, you can stop spinning your wheels, stop feeling behind or burnt out, and finally start growing with intention.

You can have a thriving, profitable business and a rich, meaningful home life — but not always at the same pace or scale as the “overnight success” stories we so often hear.

Real, lasting growth takes time especially when you’re intentionally working fewer hours to prioritize motherhood. That can feel challenging, but it’s not a setback. It’s a sign of wisdom.

I once heard that Tony Robbins gave three talks a day in his early years to outperform the top speaker in his industry, who gave just three talks a month. That kind of momentum creates fast results — it’s the “10,000-hour rule” in action.

But when your available hours are fewer, your pace will naturally be different. And that’s okay. That’s not failure… that’s intentionality.

Give yourself permission to grow slowly, sustainably, and in alignment with the life you want and the mom you want to be.

You can always choose to accelerate later.

Martha Stewart famously built her empire in her fifties, proof that success has no expiration date and no perfect timeline. So whether you’re building your business during naptime, after bedtime, or in just 15 hours a week — you’re not behind.

You’re growing with intention, and that is something to be deeply proud of.

I’ll leave you today with one of my favorite quotes from Dolly Parton:

“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

Links Mentioned:

Sign Up For Shanna’s Free Class with 6 Money Moves to Make in 2025 to Cozy Up with Your Business's Numbers (Without Spreadsheet Meltdowns or Budgeting Burnout):

Grab Shanna's Simple One Year Business Budget

Grab Shanna's Simple One Year Home Budget

Listen to Shanna's Podcast Ep. 127 What Work-Life Balance really looks like as a mom & CEO

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Beyond birth, CHM has helped us through ER visits, surgeries, and procedures. Those bills were shared by other CHM members, leaving us responsible only for our monthly contribution.

I can’t recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries enough! It’s more than financial help—it’s also spiritual support when you need it most.

Learn more here! And if you’d like to hear our full story, check out episode 305 of The Breakthrough Brand Podcast, where Adam and I dive into our experience with CHM.

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3 Business Strategies For Moms Who Want To Run a Successful Business While Staying Home With Kids

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 15 minutes

If you’re someone who wants to be with your kids more—maybe even have entire days where you’re fully in “stay-at-home mom” mode and still running a successful business—this episode is for you. I want to share three ways to optimize your business.

As I record this, I’ve got two very young kids at home, and I’m about to be doing it all with three. (By the time you hear this, baby number three will have arrived!)

In this episode, I’ll start by giving a little context on what life looks like for me right now because I know we’re all in different seasons, with different circumstances. Then, I’ll walk you through the three key strategies that have helped me optimize my business so I can spend more intentional time with my kids.

Let’s dive in.

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Let’s start with a little context before I get into the tips.

I’ve actually had my business longer than I’ve been a mom. I’ve been in business for over nine years now. My oldest son turns four in September, and at the time I’m recording this, my youngest is 15 months old. By the time you’re hearing this episode, baby number three will be here, and I’ll be back in that newborn phase.

So I’m recording this from the perspective of being a mom to two little ones: one who’s almost four and one who’s a young toddler. With both of them, and even when I just had one, my husband and I have always chosen to do part-time childcare through a local preschool. I like being able to have focused work time, but also be with them in that stay-at-home mom role, either just as much or sometimes even more, depending on the week.

Why do we do it that way? Simply because it’s what we want. It’s not necessarily the most financially strategic setup, and it’s definitely not the easiest from a productivity standpoint. But it’s a very intentional choice for this season of life—for both me and my husband.

And I want to pause here to say: this is so personal. This may not be what you want or what your situation allows for, and that’s totally okay. But if you’re someone who is trying to figure out how to spend more time with your kids without stepping away from your business, I hope this episode helps. This is the kind of conversation I wish I could’ve found when I was first navigating motherhood after already being a few years into entrepreneurship.

You Can Have It All, Just Not All At Once

I’m trying to build a life where I can do both: raise my kids and run a business I love. And I don’t believe “balance” is always realistic. I’m more aligned with that phrase you hear sometimes: you can have it all, just not all at once. That really resonates with me.

Right now, I do have my business but my kids are my number one priority. And because of that, there are things I intentionally don’t do in my business, even if they could lead to more growth or more income. I’ve had to be okay with what I call “leaving money on the table.”

Five years ago, that would’ve been hard for me. I had a different mindset back then—I wanted to maximize every opportunity, grow as fast as possible, say yes to everything. But now, I see things differently. I know what I value most, and I’ve adjusted my business accordingly.

In terms of my actual working hours, it varies a lot depending on the season. I recently added another day of childcare for my youngest, which has shifted things a bit. But since he was born, I’ve typically worked anywhere from 5 to 15 hours per week, outside of maternity leave, and my business continues to do really well financially.

That said, let’s be real: I would make more money if I worked full-time. But everything is a trade-off, and for me, this trade-off is absolutely worth it.

My husband and I both really like the decision we’ve made for this season. So if you’re a mom who wants to be with your kids more, work fewer hours, and still run a growing business, without burning out, these tips are for you.

I’ve got a mix of practical strategies and mindset shifts to share because both have been incredibly important in helping me figure this out. And again, I know we’re all in different seasons. I can’t speak to what it’s like to have school-aged kids yet, but I can speak to what it’s like in these early years—with toddlers, preschool, daycare, part-time childcare, or a nanny in the mix.

Tip #1: Decide what you want this season to look like and then take action, reevaluate, and adjust.

Okay, now that might sound a little confusing, so let me explain.

When you decide what you want work and motherhood to look like for you right now, it gives you something to strive for. Otherwise, you’re left disappointed, running around, feeling like nothing’s working, because there’s no actual plan in place. There’s nothing you’re aiming toward. You haven’t declared, “This is what I want motherhood to look like in this season, and this is what I want work to look like in this season.” Too often, we don’t actually name that specific goal.

So we might say in our planning: “I want my business to hit this revenue number,” or “I want to spend more time with my kids,” or “Being a working mom feels really hard right now.” But there’s no real action, decision, or direction tied to those statements.

For example, if you feel like you want to spend more time with your family, maybe that means reducing childcare and making changes in your business to test how that feels. Or if you feel like you don’t have time for your business at all, maybe that also means reworking your childcare.

I’ve personally been in those moments of indecision, and it really stinks. You feel stuck, almost like a victim of the situation—you can’t give your all to everyone, you can’t decide where to spend your time and energy, and you end up feeling like you’re not serving your business well or your family well. And it’s all because you haven’t declared what the actual goal is.

These decisions aren’t permanent (even if they feel that way)

I’ve been there, but I’ve also gotten out of that place. What I’ve realized is that we often think these decisions are more permanent than they actually are. But kids’ schedules are always changing, especially when they’re under two or three years old. So it can actually make sense to set goals in smaller chunks: “Here’s what I’m doing for work and motherhood this month,” or “for quarter one,” or “while my baby is under six months.” Then you can reevaluate.

That shift makes it easier. Instead of saying, “This is how my business and motherhood balance will look forever,” you’re saying, “This is what it looks like right now.” You can even set reevaluation dates on your calendar.

Here’s how I do it: I make a decision for right now, I try it, and I make that decision really clear. I’ll say, “Here’s what I’m dedicating to work, here’s what I’m dedicating to childcare, and here’s how I want to show up on days when I’m with my kids instead of working.” Then I mark a date to reevaluate and make a new decision if needed.

Instead of saying, “This is how it’ll be for the whole year,” try something like:

“This is what I’m doing while my baby is under six months old.”
“This is my plan for Q1.”
“This is how I’ll structure things for the next eight weeks, then I’ll reassess.”

That way, the decision has a container. It’s not forever. You test it, and then you intentionally reevaluate.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Make a clear decision. Write it down. For example:
These are the hours I’m dedicating to work.
This is what our childcare plan looks like.
This is how I want to show up on days I’m not working when I’m fully in “mom mode.”
Then, set a date on your calendar to re-decide. Literally block off time to sit down and ask yourself: Is this still working? What needs to shift?

Let me give you a made-up example first, then I’ll share one from my life.

Let’s say you’re a mom of two (a newborn and a two-year-old). You want to take a longer maternity leave this time and really soak up the newborn phase, especially if you felt like you rushed back to work after your first.

So, you decide: Until the baby is five months old, you’ll be the primary caregiver for the newborn. Because your business allows for flexibility, you’re going to scale things back temporarily. Meanwhile, your two-year-old will attend a preschool program three days a week, giving you a bit of margin.

That’s a clear, seasonal decision. You know what to expect, and you know when you’ll reevaluate.

So let’s go back to that example. During your baby’s nap times on those three preschool days, you plan to focus on work (as you have the energy and feel up for it). That’s the plan you’ve mapped out.

You also decide that, for those first five months, you won’t take on any podcast interviews, speaking engagements, or meetings. Why? Because let’s be honest—scheduling a meeting during a baby’s nap is stressful. You never know when they’re going to wake up, and having that flexibility makes a huge difference.

You also decide that, in your service-based business, you’re only going to take on one client a month. That way, things feel manageable, and you’re able to clearly project your revenue without overcommitting.

And here’s the key: you put a reevaluation date on the calendar for the week your baby turns five months old. That’s when you’ll check in with yourself and decide: do I want to keep this plan going, or is it time to shift?

See how powerful that is? It may not sound like a traditional business optimization tip—but I promise you, it is. Because when you have a clear plan and realistic expectations for your work life, it empowers you to make other decisions more confidently and with less mental load.

Trying things for a season in my own life

We recently changed our childcare setup for our youngest, Ethan, and it was a really emotional decision for me. Honestly, I struggled with it. Part of me just wanted to keep him home with me forever. I cried about it—it wasn’t easy. It was this back-and-forth of:

I want more time with him... but I also want (and need) time to focus on my business... and I also just need a break sometimes. All of those feelings are real, and valid, and can coexist.

Anyway, we ended up moving from two to three days of childcare—and even though that might not sound like a huge shift, it felt so different. Ironically, since making the change, we’ve barely had all three days due to holiday closures and sickness, but still—in theory, I now have three days of childcare per week, and that extra day has opened up a bit more breathing room.

At first, the decision felt huge and permanent. But then I reminded myself: this doesn’t have to be forever. If we want to go back to two days, we can. I even talked to the school, and it’s totally an option.

So here’s what I did: I picked four reevaluation dates, spaced about a month apart, and added them to our shared family calendar. Each one includes a little note about why we might want to reassess. I also set reminders so both my husband and I see them and can talk about it that week.

That simple act, putting it on the calendar, was such a mental shift for me. It reminded me that I have the freedom to adjust anytime. One of those reevaluation points is in December, as we head into the new year. I already noted that by then, the new baby will be a certain age, and it might be a great time to ask: Do we want to go back to two days of childcare? Is this current rhythm still working? What am I feeling?

So again, just to recap:

Make a decision that fits your current season.
Put a reevaluation date on the calendar.
Be open to changing things based on what’s working or not.

Decide when you’ll be fully in mom mode

I’d also say—decide for yourself what the time looks like. Maybe it’s entire days, maybe half days, or just afternoons that are fully dedicated to being with your kids. The key is stepping into that role of, “I’m not doing the business thing right now, I’m doing the mom thing.” Deciding what you want that to look like is so powerful and meaningful.

For me, just to give a real example: in this season, I’ve decided that on days I’m with my kids, I don’t work during nap time. It’s just too stressful. You never know when someone will wake up early, and it leaves you frustrated if you’re in the middle of something. So instead, I’ve chosen not to use that time for laptop work—unless it’s something really quick, like a social media post. I won’t try to dive into a big project. Instead, I’ll do things around the house or rest myself.

That’s a decision I’ve made: no working during nap time. I also like having a loose structure for our full days together. That might look like:

A plan for where we’re going by 9:00 AM
What we’re having for lunch
How I’ll use rest time
What I’d like the afternoon to look like

Of course, you have to hold it all loosely, but it’s still so helpful to have a plan. It’s the same idea as when I’m working on my business—I start with a plan for what I want to get done and when. You can do the same for days with your kids, so you’re showing up deliberately and with intention.

Tip #2: Consider shifting from a cart open/cart closed model to evergreen offers.

My second tip, and these last two are much more business-focused than parenting-focused, is to set up your products and offers in an evergreen model instead of only doing live launches, and then layer in occasional promotional periods. This is huge, and you can adapt it to fit your own business, whatever that looks like.

The big idea here is to make your business work for the version of motherhood you want right now—not what some online business expert says you “have to” do to make money, and not even necessarily what worked for you before you had kids. If your goal in this season is to spend more time with your kids and less time behind a laptop, then having products that are always available can be much better for your time and your finances.

When your offers are evergreen, you can consistently promote them and see regular sales come in, instead of relying on a cart-open, cart-close model where you make money only during those launch windows. Launching often leads to a huge month followed by a really slow month, and that rollercoaster can be stressful. Evergreen sales take a lot of that pressure off while still allowing you to make significant income.

To clarify what I mean: some business owners run their products in a cart-open, cart-close model. That means the product—whether it’s a course, a membership, or even a done-for-you service—is only available during a set window. You go hard during those five or so days with live webinars, Facebook ads, social media pushes, lots of planning and energy, and you might make a big chunk of revenue. But then the cart closes, and people can’t buy until you open it again months later. So if someone emails you saying, “Hey, I saw your program—can I join?” you have to tell them no until the next launch.

Evergreen means your offer is always for sale. You can still run promotions—like a 15% off sale on your course—but the product is always available. That’s how I’ve run my business with my website templates from the start, and it’s how I’ve handled my courses since becoming a mom. Everything in my business is always for sale through funnels that sell to people directly. Anytime I post on social media, I’m thinking about promoting my products as if someone could buy right then. And yes, when I create something brand new, I’ll do a live launch—but otherwise, everything stays available.

This leads to moments like yesterday, when I made a sale of my course Podcast Success Blueprint completely randomly—on a day when I never even opened my laptop because I was with my kids. That’s the kind of thing evergreen creates: sales that come in at any time, as people discover your product and decide they’re ready to buy.

I personally love this approach because it avoids the feast-or-famine cycle and makes work more flexible. On top of that, you can still run periodic promotions or discounts to boost sales and give yourself a chance to talk more deliberately about your offers. You can schedule those around your life—maybe when you know you’ll have more energy, or when it aligns with your family schedule.

Of course, you might decide something else works better for you. Maybe in your season of motherhood, you prefer cart open, cart close. That’s okay—you have to choose what fits your life. But for me, I’ve been running my business this way for about four years, and it’s worked really well. Honestly, I don’t have the capacity in my current schedule to put everything into a huge launch and depend on one week financially. That doesn’t feel good to me—especially now, being pregnant and expecting my third.

So my second tip is this: consider setting your products and offers up as evergreen. Let people buy when it makes sense for them, and create a business that works for your season of life.

Tip #3: Delegate and let go of things you used to obsess over

Alright, my third and final tip, and then I’ll share some other thoughts and a recap, is this: learn how to delegate and let some things slide that you used to obsess over.

I actually think moms can be incredibly efficient business owners because motherhood forces you to develop time management. It pushes you to cut out the things that don’t matter, avoid wasting time, and figure out how to delegate. Now, that doesn’t mean every mom automatically does those things well, but I’d say motherhood naturally tries to teach you flexibility. And if you let it, that lesson can really help you in your business. If you don’t, the reality of having less time to obsess over everything, whether in your work or at home, can drive you crazy.

This is especially true if you’re running your business without full-time childcare. In that case, I’d encourage you to look at everything you do daily, weekly, and monthly in both your business and your home life.

Ask yourself:

What’s unnecessary? Something you started doing before kids, or when you only had one kid, that might not actually matter anymore. Or maybe it’s outdated: something your business needed five years ago, but doesn’t today.
What can be automated? Often, the tools you already use (or could invest in) can handle repetitive tasks for you.
What can be delegated? Either to an existing team member or to someone new you hire.

And don’t forget, you can apply this same approach to your household. For example, maybe you realize you don’t want or need weekly cleaners but hiring someone to deep clean once a month could make a huge difference. That’s what we do: once-a-month cleaning, and then we handle the in-between. Sure, the house feels crazy sometimes, but it works.

Being more efficient as a business owner

So those are the three areas I’d encourage you to evaluate: what can be cut completely, what can be automated, and what can be delegated. Beyond that, also look at what can simply be done more efficiently, either by you or by a team member, when cutting isn’t an option. Sometimes you’ll realize the task just doesn’t need as much attention as you thought.

This has definitely been my experience. Every time I’ve prepared for maternity leave, I’ve gone through the process of delegating, systematizing, automating, or just quitting certain things.

With my first maternity leave, I had been doing everything myself, and I had to sort through: What could I hand off to a team member? What did we need to stop doing altogether because it was just a waste of time? What needed better systems? I repeated that process with my second baby, and now, gearing up for my third maternity leave, I’m doing it again. Each time, it’s gotten easier because I’ve removed more bottlenecks, cut more fluff, and made my business run leaner.

Of course, what this looks like will vary for everyone because your business isn’t the same as mine. But I encourage you to start exploring it for yourself, in both your work and your home life. Ask:

What am I doing that I could simply stop doing?
What can I automate with tools I already have (or could invest in)?
What can I delegate to a team member, a contractor, or even to my spouse or kids at home?
And finally, what can I do more efficiently myself?

It can be so helpful to start capturing these ideas, maybe just as notes on your phone, and then intentionally make a plan to act on them.

Avoiding losing momentum in your business while spending less time on your business

If your goal is to avoid losing momentum in your business while also being present with your kids, and without overworking yourself, know that it is possible. I’m living proof of that. But it does require being very deliberate and intentional.

In fact, I’ve even started outlining another episode I want to record that’s connected to this idea but focused more on childcare. It’s about making decisions to find the right childcare setup for you—so you have reliable coverage when you need it, but not necessarily full-time, five-days-a-week if that’s not what you want. That’s one of the most beautiful things about owning your own business: you’re not locked into a 9-to-5 schedule. You can decide, “I’m going to make this work in two days,” or, “I’ll structure it over three days,” and spend the rest of the time with your kids. The fact that we get to make those choices as business owners is so powerful and amazing.

When I think about starting my business nine-and-a-half years ago, I’m so grateful for how it set me up for motherhood years later—both in ways I couldn’t have predicted and in ways I was deliberately planning for.

If this is on your heart, I just want to say: it’s worth doing. Time with your children is never time you’ll regret… even when it’s hard. Sometimes a full day solo with your kids can feel harder than sitting behind a laptop (it certainly can for me), but it’s so joy-filled and so worth it. I’m constantly trying to optimize my business to have more days and more time with my kids while they’re little and all at home.

3 Strategies To Optimize Your Business Without Overworking

I know many of you relate. It’s worth pursuing, even when it feels hard or complicated and you’re wondering how to do both and balance it all. My encouragement: you can’t have everything all at once, but you can have it all across time—just not all at the same time.

Decide what you want your current season to look like—and then take action. Define your timeline (a quarter, six months, until your baby reaches a certain age, etc.), and set reevaluation dates to reassess what’s working.
Shift to evergreen offers instead of live launches. This creates consistency in your income and more flexibility in your schedule, letting you make sales while spending time with your family.
Learn how to delegate, automate, and let go of the things that you used to obsess over. Look for what’s unnecessary, what can be handled by someone else, and what you can systematize so your business runs more efficiently (often allowing you to work less and earn more).

I truly believe this is possible for you. I’m living proof that you don’t have to choose between motherhood and entrepreneurship. You can do both: intentionally, sustainably, and in a way that aligns with your values.

Links Mentioned:

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8 SEO Blogging Strategies for Google (and ChatGPT) that Most Biz Owners Skip with Kara Duncan

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 10 minutes

I am so thrilled to introduce you to Kara Duncan from The Kara Report on today’s podcast. This episode is absolute gold. I just finished listening to it myself and walked away with a to-do list full of important SEO updates I need to make in my own business. I was literally taking notes as I listened. In this episode, Kara is sharing eight SEO blogging strategies most business owners are skipping—or, honestly, may not even be aware of. I personally learned a ton from what she shared.

These are not the usual SEO tips you hear everywhere; Kara goes deep and gets really specific. She’s someone who has helped me rank better on Google for my website and especially for blog posts related to this podcast so trust me, she knows her stuff.

Fun fact: Kara is actually also on my podcast team. She’s been my podcast manager for about a year and a half now. When I came up with the idea for these guest episodes during my maternity leave, I pitched it to her and added, “By the way, would you also be one of the guests?” I had several topics in mind that I thought she’d be perfect for (and this one especially stood out!).

Kara’s been a long-time listener of the show, a Showit template customer, and she’s also taken my Podcast Success Blueprint course. Like I mentioned, she’s now a vital part of my business and is so sharp when it comes to blogging and SEO.

She also talks about how blogging is changing because of AI, and I really loved her perspective on how we can adapt our strategy as business owners (even if you’re not using AI yourself).

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 314!

Hey there, friends! I am so excited to be coming at you from this side of the mic. I'm Kara, and my business is The Kara Report. We’re a content marketing agency that specializes in done-for-you blogging and Pinterest services for creative business owners just like you!

I also have the absolute privilege and delight of helping Elizabeth behind the scenes with some of her podcast work, so I’m really excited to be chatting with you today. And hey - we already have one thing in common: we both love The Breakthrough Brand podcast.

Today, I’m going to share eight things to consider with your SEO in 2025. These are underrated SEO blogging strategies or things that most business owners tend to skip over. I feel like we’re all trying to diversify our marketing in 2025, right? We’re trying to stop relying so much on algorithms and if you’re not there yet, trust me, it’s only a matter of time. We’re all working on building more authority and creating marketing that lasts. Let’s get started!

1. Introduce yourself at the top of your blog post with a keyword that explains what you do.

This sounds so simple, but you’d be surprised how often I see blog posts where, if I landed on the page without context, I would have no idea that the writer offers a product or service. It might look like just another informational site.

Instead, I start every blog post with a quick intro to the topic, then I introduce myself. For example: “Today I’m sharing X, Y, Z. By the way, I’m [name], and I specialize in [what you do].” Then I move into the main content and end with a clear call to action.

Including that quick intro does two things: First, it adds another keyword to the page, which is great for SEO. But more importantly, it reminds us that a blog post is often someone’s first interaction with your brand.

A lot of us design our websites with the assumption that visitors will follow a linear path: they’ll land on the homepage, read the about page, check out the services, etc. But that’s not always how it works. If you’re blogging regularly or using SEO strategically, people are often landing on a blog post first (totally bypassing the homepage).

And because we live in a world overflowing with content, a lot of blogs are purely informational. They exist to make money through ads or affiliate links. But that might not be your goal. You might be trying to sell a service, a digital product, or something else, and your blog post might not be doing that effectively if you don’t introduce yourself.

So, that’s the first of the SEO blogging strategies, and honestly, it’s also a human-first tip: Always introduce yourself in every single blog post. Yes, it might feel repetitive to you, but it’s not for your audience. Because again, for many people, this will be their very first touchpoint with your brand.

2. Clearly Lay Out What You’re Going to Cover At The Beginning

The second thing I recommend doing when you're writing a blog post is to clearly lay out what you’re going to cover right at the beginning. I already mentioned having an introduction, but this goes a step further. Too often, we end up burying the lede.

It kind of reminds me of looking up recipes on Pinterest back in 2016—remember when you'd have to scroll through eight paragraphs about someone’s life story before you even got to the actual recipe? It’s the same thing with blogs today. We're still doing that, and people just don’t have the patience for it.

So, in your first paragraph, make the topic super clear. Then, go one step further and include a little list of what you're going to cover. For example: “In this post, we’ll go over X, Y, and Z.” Make sure those points are keyword-rich and specific (not vague!).

Because here’s the thing: if you write something like “The #1 secret business owners miss,” no one is typing that into Google. It might be catchy, but it’s not helpful for SEO.

If you don’t want to manually list the topics, you can also use a tool like Rank Math’s table of contents plugin (or another one compatible with your platform). It can automatically pull in your headers to generate a table of contents, which helps surface your keywords at the top of the page.

3. Optimize Your Images

The third thing I want to talk about is optimizing images. Some of these SEO blogging strategies might sound basic, but they really matter.

I recently read a study that said 78% of SEO issues are image-related. That’s huge! And I think it's because image optimization seems like a small detail—something we either don’t know how to handle or don’t think is that important. But images actually play a big role in helping Google understand what your content is about.

That’s true whether you’re a photographer with tons of images in a blog post, or a business owner who includes just a few. So here are three easy ways to optimize your images:

Rename your image files before uploading.
Don’t wait until after they’re uploaded—some website platforms let you rename them afterward, but that doesn’t always carry through in a way that Google recognizes. When renaming, use dashes between words, like: website-copywriter-nashville.jpg
You can use keywords related to your overall niche or the specific topic of the post.
Add alt text that describes the image.
Alt text is important for accessibility and also gives you an opportunity to naturally include a keyword. If you're a photographer and you have, say, 100 images in a post, don’t overdo it. Maybe aim for around 20% of the images to include keywords. For fewer images, maybe 40%. Keep it natural and descriptive, not just stuffed with keywords.
Resize your images before uploading.
This keeps your site loading faster and improves user experience. I like to resize based on width—800 pixels wide is usually a good starting point for blog layouts. You can always adjust if things look blurry. A tool I recommend is bulkresizephotos.com—it's free and really fast, especially if you're not using editing software like Lightroom.

So to recap: Rename, add alt text, and resize your images.

4. Add Internal & External Links

The fourth thing that’s often underrated but is super effective when talking about SEO blogging strategies is using links strategically. There are three types of links to think about for every blog post:

External links to high-authority websites.
If you reference a study or helpful resource, link to it—just make sure it’s a trustworthy site (not spammy). Google sees this as a credibility signal.
External links to your other online platforms.
Send people to your Instagram, Pinterest board, YouTube channel—wherever else you show up online. These are technically still external links (since they’re not on your domain), but they keep people in your orbit. Pro tip: always set external links to open in a new tab so you’re not sending people away from your site entirely.
Internal links to your own content.
Link to your services page, your contact page, your email opt-in—anything relevant.
Also, don’t forget to link to older blog content! If you've been in business for even a year or two, you likely have a lot of helpful posts you can resurface. Link organically when it makes sense. For example, if you mention optimizing images and have a whole blog post about that, link to it right there.

Think of it this way: people reading your blog are likely in different stages of their buyer journey. Some are ready to contact you now, others are just starting to realize they might need your help. Linking in different ways throughout the post helps serve all those readers and keeps them engaged.

5. Add The Most Important Keywords For Your Website To Your Footer

Now, this won’t make sense for every business, and sometimes you’ll make design choices that don’t prioritize SEO—and that’s okay. You don’t want your site to feel robotic or overly optimized.

But if you have a high-value blog post, say, a software review you’re an affiliate for, or a post that explains your unique process, it can be smart to include that in your footer. Even just a short list of key blog posts is helpful.

We see big software companies do this all the time. Their footers are full of links to help with SEO, and while most small business owners don’t need to go that far, you can still apply this strategically.

And while you're editing your footer, it’s also a good idea to include a short, 1–2 sentence description of what you do. This helps both with SEO and with clarity for first-time visitors.

And if you’re a location-based business, definitely make sure your location is included in your footer. The footer is kind of an SEO hotspot because it appears on every single page of your website. That makes it a great place to be intentional. It’s worth investing a little extra time there because it can have a real impact on your overall SEO.

6. Increase Your Word Count

Now, I’m not saying you need to write a 5,000, 6,000, or 7,000-word blog post—but I do think we need to push ourselves beyond the typical 500 words. A good sweet spot is usually somewhere between 1,000 to 2,000 words, depending on how competitive the keyword you're trying to rank for is.

However—and this is important—if you’re using AI to help write your blog posts, there's a good chance the tool (like ChatGPT) may just bulk up your content with fluff to hit a word count. And we don’t want that. Humans don’t want to read it, and search engines are smart enough to see through it.

So, here are three simple ways to add both word count and value to your blog post:

Add a Frequently Asked Questions section at the end.
With the rise of AI, people are getting very specific in their searches. Instead of just searching “website copywriter,” someone might now search for “website copywriter who’s been in business five years and works with service-based businesses.”
Including FAQs helps you target these long-tail keywords and answer real questions your audience might be asking.
Introduce the topic more thoroughly.
For example, if your post is “8 Tips for Better SEO,” don’t just jump in—start by briefly answering, “What is SEO?” It adds useful context, naturally includes keywords, and gives real value to someone who may not be as familiar with the topic.
Explain why the topic matters.
This helps frame the content and engage the reader. For instance, I could say: SEO is important because I want you to get leads for your business or sales on autopilot. I want you to invest upfront and reap long-term rewards. I want you to build a system that doesn’t rely on constantly fighting the algorithm.
Adding this kind of "why it matters" context can make your blog post richer and more compelling—and it gives you more space to use relevant keywords naturally.

7. Pin Your Blogs on Pinterest

Pinterest isn’t exactly a social media platform, it’s more of a search engine, and it’s a fantastic place to build free backlinks to your website.

Even if you don’t want to dive into a full Pinterest marketing strategy, I still recommend creating a few graphics for each blog post and pinning them to relevant boards. Be sure to use keywords in your pin descriptions too.

Doing this sends great signals to Google:

People are linking to your content
People are clicking on your content
Your business is active across platforms

All of that helps your SEO. So even if Pinterest doesn’t feel like a major platform for your business, or if your audience isn’t super active there, it’s still worth using it for the SEO benefits alone.

8. Use Bing Webmaster Tools

And then last but not least, I told you I was going to share something super fresh and relevant to SEO in 2025—and that is: signing up for Bing Webmaster Tools and making sure to submit your site there.

So, as of right now, ChatGPT is actually using Bing’s index instead of Google’s to search the web. If you have Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools is basically their equivalent, just for a different search engine.

A lot of times when we talk about SEO, we’re only talking about ranking on Google. But the reality is, in 2025, we want to rank on multiple platforms. We want to rank on Bing. And more importantly, we want to “rank” on ChatGPT.

There’s more and more evidence that people are heading to ChatGPT first to search for things. And if ChatGPT is searching Bing’s Rolodex, we want to make sure that we’re on Bing’s Rolodex.

And hey—if you’re not using Google Search Console, just as a quick aside—it’s super easy and free to set up. It’s basically like Google Analytics, and you definitely should have it. You’ll be able to see how your website is performing SEO-wise, what keywords you’re ranking for, what pages are showing up, and all of that good stuff.

So definitely worth setting up both Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Also, when you publish a new blog post, you can submit it directly to these search engine tools to get your content indexed faster. Google is pretty good, and I should say Bing is pretty good, at finding your site organically, especially if you’re a regular content creator.

But if you’re not publishing consistently, if you’re new to blogging, or if your content has been a little inconsistent, then submitting your blog posts to these tools manually as you publish them is a great way to make sure your site isn’t getting ignored.

So that’s kind of my last of the SEO blogging strategies (and one that’s super relevant for blogging and SEO in 2025!).

Recapping What You Need To Know About SEO Blogging in 2025

Okay, I don’t know about you, but that just flew by for me! So I’m going to recap really quickly with my eight SEO tips:

Always introduce yourself at the top of a blog post.
Include a list of what you’re going to cover or a table of contents that includes your keywords.
Optimize your images every single time.
Add internal and external links throughout the page.
Put your most relevant blog posts in your footer.
Increase your word count (but make sure it’s valuable).
Get your content on Pinterest.
Submit your site to Bing Webmaster Tools.

That seriously felt like it flew by!

Thank you so much for spending time with me. Again, I’m Kara, and my business is The Kara Report. I also have a podcast, very creatively named, The Kara Report. I’d love for you to come hang out with me there.

If you head to my website, you’ll also find my private podcast called Build It Once, Get Found for Months, where I break down more of how I do this: how I create content that you build and invest in upfront and that can keep working for you over the long term.

I’d love to see you there. Thank you again, and a big thank you to Elizabeth for having me—this was so much fun!

Links Mentioned:

Learn more about working with Kara

Download Kara's private podcast

Follow Kara on Instagram

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

The post 8 SEO Blogging Strategies for Google (and ChatGPT) that Most Biz Owners Skip with Kara Duncan appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

The Beginner’s Guide to Evergreen Marketing (Even If You’ve “Tried It” Before) with Stephanie Kase

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 9 minutes

As you're hearing this, I'm currently on maternity leave, and I've invited some of my talented business friends to share guest trainings on topics they're incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about. Our first guest is my lovely friend Stephanie Kase. She's actually been on the podcast a couple of times before so you might already be familiar with her. She's amazing. We’re talking about evergreen marketing today (something I'm also really passionate about in my own business).

I've known Stephanie for years, and she's someone I truly admire. She's a smart businesswoman, a dedicated mother and wife, and a strong woman of faith. We have a lot in common and have bonded over so many things in both business and life. I just listened to her training, and it's fantastic. I'm so excited for you to hear it.

I love her practical tips for making evergreen products and content work for you, especially her insight on using ChatGPT (make sure to read for that near the end). Stephanie also teaches a lot about YouTube, which complements what I share about podcasting. If you're interested in learning YouTube, she's definitely your go-to. She's incredibly gifted at what she does and teaches it all so well.

So without further ado, here is Stephanie with her training: How to Start Evergreen Marketing That Actually Sticks.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 313!

So, maybe you’ve tried evergreen marketing before, or maybe this is your first time considering it, but how do you actually set yourself up for success? Often, people dive in and, a month or two later, feel overwhelmed or discouraged by slow results. I want to share what I would focus on and what I would do to make evergreen marketing genuinely worth the time and energy, especially if I were starting from scratch.

About Stephanie Kase

By the way, I’m Stephanie Kase. I’ve been a longtime fan and customer of Elizabeth’s Showit website template shop. I think I bought my first template back in 2019 or 2020, and I’ve loved staying connected with her ever since. So I’m really excited to be here with you today.

I’m an online marketing coach, specializing in YouTube growth and email list building. I work primarily with entrepreneurs who sell online-based offers. A lot of my students come to me feeling completely burnt out on social media. Maybe you've felt that way too. Even if you enjoy social media, it can start to feel like a never-ending grind. Many of my students are looking for a different way, something more sustainable and meaningful, and that’s where evergreen marketing comes in.

Most of what I teach focuses on long-form content, particularly through YouTube. I help entrepreneurs streamline their content creation, reach their ideal audience through evergreen systems, and generate consistent leads. One of my students, a lactation consultant, is a great example. After launching her YouTube channel and going through my course, she was able to sell multiple eBooks within just a few weeks. It was amazing to see how quickly she gained traction.

My own background is actually in photography, and that’s where my love for evergreen, long-form marketing began nearly ten years ago now. I started by blogging and eventually added YouTube. Today, my YouTube channel has nearly 100,000 subscribers and brings in over 400 trackable leads every month. That channel helped me hit my first multiple six-figure revenue year in 2022, and I’ve sustained that ever since. One of the most rewarding outcomes? My husband was able to leave his job to stay home with our kids, and I now work part-time hours so I can be with them too—something I know Elizabeth values and talks about a lot.

What Evergreen Marketing Is

When I talk about evergreen marketing, I’m referring to platforms like podcasts (like the one you’re listening to now), YouTube, blogs, and Pinterest. These are the key platforms that support evergreen content (content that continues to work for you long after it’s published).

Interestingly, Pinterest is the only one of those platforms that focuses on short-form content. The others (podcasts, YouTube, and blogs) are all long-form, just in different formats. Podcasts are audio, YouTube combines audio and video, and blogs are written content. Of course, you can also embed a podcast or YouTube video into a blog post.

The defining trait of evergreen content is that it has a long lifespan. A single piece of content can continue to bring in traffic, leads, and even sales for a year, two years, or even five years down the line. I still get views on blog posts I wrote five years ago, which is wild to think about. That’s why this strategy is so powerful for building a long-term, sustainable business.

Choose ONE Evergreen Platform and Commit to 6 Months

So, here’s the first big tip I want to share: if you’re brand new to evergreen marketing and want to actually see results, choose one evergreen platform and commit to it fully for at least six months. Go all in. That focus and consistency will make a huge difference.

Ideally, you should commit to at least a year. Evergreen marketing is a long game. You're probably not going to see a ton of traction in the first month (or even in the first few months). Yes, there are amazing resources out there. Elizabeth has a fantastic podcasting course, and I offer a lot on YouTube. Those tools can help fast-track your progress, but even then, success takes time.

Think of it like a snowball: it starts small, but the more you roll it, the bigger it gets. And the beauty of evergreen content is that once the snowball gains momentum, it takes a long time to melt. That means you get more breathing room in your marketing. Yes, it takes longer to build, but it also keeps working for you long after you stop publishing or take a break.

Dedication is the biggest factor in whether you'll succeed. When I look at my students or other business owners who are doing well with platforms like podcasts, YouTube, or blogs, it’s clear—they’ve stuck with it for months or even years before seeing major results.

Look for the small wins in the beginning

That’s one of the hardest parts: you start off excited, but a month or two in, the enthusiasm fades and it starts to feel like a lot of work. And yes, creating a podcast or launching a YouTube channel has a steeper learning curve than posting a reel or sending an email. But that learning curve gets easier with time. The key is to go in with a committed mindset. Stick with it even when growth feels slow, and stay focused on where you want to be in six months (or a year).

When I first started on YouTube, I spent a couple of years just throwing up random videos and barely saw any growth. Then I made the decision to go all in and really learn what works—specifically as a business owner, not as an influencer or content creator. After about three months, I started seeing small signs of growth. A few months after that, the growth really took off, and it hasn’t stopped.

Another example: we've recently gone all in on Pinterest. I’ve used Pinterest off and on for years, but we got serious about it this past year, and now we’re finally starting to see traction. It really does take consistency. You need to be committing to show up even when it feels like nothing is happening. And once you see those small signs of growth, lean into what’s working and do more of it.

One important note: if you’re newer in business, evergreen marketing works best when you already have a strong foundation. You need to know your brand, know your audience, and be really clear on your message.

You need to know the offers you ultimately want to sell and make sure your evergreen marketing supports them. You should also have opt-ins for your email list that you can weave into your evergreen content. And it's crucial to know who you're creating content for. If you don’t have clarity on your niche and audience, you risk putting effort into content that won’t serve your long-term goals.

Create an Evergreen Marketing Workflow That Works For You

Now, the second key to success is creating a workflow that works for you. There are so many ways to approach this, and I teach a lot about batch creation, especially for YouTube. For me (now as a mom of three girls, including a baby) batching has been a game changer.

Getting ready to film (doing hair and makeup, setting up the space) takes time. It doesn’t make sense for me to do all that just to film one 15-minute video. It’s a much better use of my time to prep outlines for four to six videos and film them all in one session. Sometimes I get through three, sometimes six. It depends on my energy, especially with a newborn. But the goal is always to record multiple videos at once so I don’t have to think about filming again for a few weeks.

Of course, at the beginning, evergreen marketing will take more time because you're still learning and figuring out your rhythm. But batching can help. You might batch all your outlines in one session, then film later, then edit in another session. Staying in one “mode” at a time, rather than switching tasks constantly, helps you use your time more efficiently.

For me, editing multiple videos back to back is tough. I don’t have the brainpower for it. So I typically only edit one video a day. But I can batch film, batch outline, or batch create thumbnails. It’s all about figuring out which parts of the process work best for batching in your life and business.

Maybe you’re in a season where filming one video at a time is more realistic. That’s totally fine. The important part is creating a workflow that fits you. This is one of the biggest things that trips people up. They get overwhelmed by how time-consuming it feels and give up too soon.

Just remember: it might take more time up front, but once you find your rhythm, everything gets easier. And your workflow doesn’t have to look like mine or Elizabeth’s or anyone else's. It just has to be something you’ll actually stick to. That’s what matters most.

Repurpose Evergreen Marketing Content

This is something you should start doing from day one. It helps take the pressure off creating new content for every platform. When I started being consistent with YouTube, I took those weekly videos and used them as my weekly email newsletters too. It made everything so much simpler.

Pro tip: you can drop your YouTube transcript into ChatGPT and have it help you write the email. It’s seriously such a time-saver.

I still do this today—it’s one of the easiest ways to work smarter, not harder. If I’ve already spent time making a valuable video, why not turn it into other types of content? And it also gives me a way to point my email subscribers back to the video and get more eyes on it.

Today, we do this at a bigger scale. Each YouTube video becomes a blog post as well.

Each YouTube video I create also becomes content for my email list, Instagram Stories, and Instagram feed. Sometimes we clip the video directly; other times, we simply take the ideas from it. If there’s a point that really resonated or stood out, we’ll rework it into the context of an Instagram Reel or post.

I’ve had a team member help with this in the past, and it's been a game changer. She takes the YouTube content I put my best time and energy into and repurposes it using the outlines, transcripts, or clips. This has taken a huge load off me, especially since I started my business nearly ten years ago. It’s been such a refreshing shift to not feel like I constantly have to generate brand-new content.

Making an Evergreen Content Calendar

I have a free resource that shows exactly how I manage this. There, you’ll find a visual representation of what I call my Content Stacking System. It shows how I repurpose my YouTube videos into all these other content types. If you're a visual learner or just want some inspiration, I highly recommend checking it out.

At the end of the day, repurposing is about making the most of what you’ve already created. If you want to step into the CEO and visionary role in your business, you’ll want to stay focused on creating high-value, long-form evergreen content. From there, your team, or even just you, can break it down into smaller pieces. And because the original content is from you, it still feels personal and aligned with your brand.

Finding Evergreen Content Ideas

If you're just getting started with evergreen content or need help figuring out what to create, look at your best-performing short-form content. Think about your Instagram Reels, Stories, or captions that performed well. Use that as a starting point. If you had a great post or a long-form caption that resonated, turn it into an outline for a YouTube video or a podcast episode.

That’s exactly what I did when I first started my YouTube channel. I went back to my old blog posts, after years of blogging, and used those as scripts for my first YouTube videos. It’s a fantastic way to repurpose what you’ve already created and save time.

And if you want to go deeper into evergreen marketing, especially with YouTube, I’d love to invite you to my free private podcast. It’s called Evergreen Pregame. I share more of my story, lessons I’ve learned, and what it really takes to succeed with evergreen strategies. There are several great episodes already waiting for you.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me and letting me fill in for Elizabeth. It’s been so much fun! If you’d like to connect further, you can find me on Instagram at @stephanielynnkase, or visit stephaniekase.com for more resources. I'm also on YouTube at youtube.com/@stephaniekase.

Thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week!

Links Mentioned:

Grab Stephanie’s sample evergreen calendar

Download Stephanie’s private podcast

Follow Stephanie on Instagram

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Evergreen Marketing (Even If You’ve “Tried It” Before) with Stephanie Kase appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

Pregnancy, Projects & Podcasting: Life Update After a 3-Month Break (+ Giving Your Brain Space to Slow Down & Have a Quiet Quarter)

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 2 minutes

After taking my first-ever extended podcast break in over six years (!!!), I’m back behind the mic with a big life and business update for you. If you've ever thought about taking a break and giving your brain space to slow down, this episode is for you. I’m sharing what these past three months off have looked like—from behind-the-scenes shifts in my business to some really personal updates as we get ready to welcome baby #3.

I open up about what led me to step away for a bit, what I learned from listening to that nudge, and how God’s timing showed up in powerful, practical ways during this season. You’ll hear about how I’ve been prepping for maternity leave, making some big birth-related decisions, organizing every corner of our home (nesting!), and even getting ready to launch new Showit templates—all while parenting two young kids and navigating a third pregnancy.

Plus, I’m recapping our spring adventures like buying a new van, celebrating baby girl with a sprinkle, and taking a family beach trip. I also share what’s coming next for the podcast as we move into a new season (including what to expect while I’m on leave).

Whether you're here for business insights, real-life motherhood, or a little bit of both, this is a fun, full-circle episode to catch you up and (hopefully!) encourage you in your own season of growth and change.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 308!

Tune in to episode 308 of the Breakthrough Brand Podcast to catch up with me after the podcast break.

Some highlights from this episode:

Why I took my first real podcast break in 6 years
How the break impacted my creativity, clarity, and mindset
What I’ve been up to behind the scenes in my business
How taking a pause affected my business revenue
The spiritual side: trusting God’s timing and nudges in business decisions
Preparing for baby #3 and navigating a VBAC decision
What it’s been like being pregnant while parenting two little boys
Why I’ve chosen to be more private about this pregnancy (and what I’ll still share)
Moving offices, organizing our home, and lots of nesting
Selling a car and buying a new van
Celebrating baby girl with a sweet, small sprinkle
Taking our family beach trip while 30 weeks pregnant
How I created margin to work on brand-new Showit templates
What I’ve learned from parenting, working, and preparing for maternity leave
What’s coming next on the podcast + how to stay in the loop during my leave

Links Mentioned:

Hear Why I Chose To Take a Podcast Break (Episode 307)

How to Start a Podcast in 2025 (Episode 302)

Tune Into Colin's Birth Story (Episode 148)

Tune Into Ethan's Birth Story (Episode 265)

The post Pregnancy, Projects & Podcasting: Life Update After a 3-Month Break (+ Giving Your Brain Space to Slow Down & Have a Quiet Quarter) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

A Candid Conversation About Making a Shift to The Breakthrough Brand Podcast (+ a REAL Look at How I Make Big Business Decisions & a Q&A)

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 03:48:06 +0000

Reading Time: 27 minutes

This episode is all about a big shift coming to the Breakthrough Brand podcast—one that I’m making very mindfully and am really excited about. I can’t wait to share it with you and give you tips when you’re making your own business decisions.

This is a behind-the-scenes look at how I’m running my business this year, and I think you’ll find some key takeaways for your own business as well. If you’ve ever wondered how others grow and maintain their businesses while balancing other responsibilities, this episode is for you.

I’ll be sharing more details about the podcast changes, and then we’ll dive into a Q&A format where I’ll answer any questions you might have about this shift. So, let’s get to it!

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

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Okay guys, this feels really big to say, but here’s the announcement—and please don’t turn this off after I say it because I have so much more to share. For the remainder of 2025, I’m shifting the Breakthrough Brand podcast to a seasonal format instead of releasing episodes every single week (at least for now).

That means this episode will be the last one for a while. I’m taking a three-month break to start, and I’ll explain more about what these breaks will look like. After three months, I’ll be back with new episodes, then I’ll take another break, come back again, and so on. I have a full schedule planned, and I want to be really clear about why I’m making this change.

Is this a profit-driven decision? A gut decision? What will I be doing while I’m not podcasting? I’ll get into all of that.

But first, I want to make something very clear.

I know we all multitask while listening to podcasts. I do too! But I want you to really hear this: I am not closing my business. Not even a little bit. Don’t take this podcast pause as a sign that I’m stepping away from my business or taking a break from it. That’s not happening.

I’m still fully running my business as usual—just without creating new podcast content for a few months. Right now, I’m working on new template designs, I just scheduled the spring coaching calls for Booked Out Designer, and Podcast Success Blueprint is still going strong. My courses and templates are still available, and I’m staying plugged into my business—maybe even more so in certain areas as I focus on new projects.

So, to be crystal clear: This is not a business closure announcement. It’s also not a farewell to the podcast. I love this podcast, and it’s not going anywhere. I’m just taking a break from releasing new episodes.

Now, I fully support anyone who decides to close their business or end their podcast. I always admire business owners who make those bold moves, and I think it’s incredible when people make intentional decisions like that. But that’s not what this is for me.

I’m simply taking structured breaks from new podcast episodes. The podcast will return after my break, then I’ll take another pause, and then I’ll be back again. I have a full schedule planned, and I’ll walk you through what that looks like.

Why am I switching to a seasonal podcast?

So, let’s talk about why. Now that we're all on the same page—this is a break, not a stop—I want to dive into why I’m taking a break from weekly podcast episodes.

I’ll answer more questions as we go, but first, here’s a high-level explanation:
On March 5th, 2025, I’ll be celebrating six years of this podcast—which, ironically, is also my son Ethan’s birthday! I didn’t even realize my podcast anniversary and his birthdate lined up until later. So, while he’s turning one, this show is turning six.

I launched my very first episode on March 5th, 2019, after months of prep work that started back in winter 2018. So technically, I’ve been working on this podcast for over six years now. And six years is a long time to do anything in business!

Through all of the changes happening in the podcast space over the last six years, I’ve kept up with podcasting because I love it. I truly enjoy it, and I see real results from it. You’ve probably heard me say before that podcasting is one of my favorite things I do in my business—if not the favorite thing. That’s why I’ve stuck with it for so long.

Out of curiosity, I looked back at how many weeks have passed since my first episode aired on March 5th, 2019. The answer? 312 weeks. That’s 312 weeks of podcasting and content creation, which is how I’ve reached 307 episodes. That means I’ve only missed five episodes in six years!

Now, you might be thinking, “Wait, Elizabeth, I feel like you’ve taken more breaks than that.” And you’re right—I’ve had weeks without new episodes, but because there were times when I aired two or even three episodes in a single week (like for a part one and part two situation), the numbers evened out. I’ve also done recasts of previous episodes.

But for the most part, my only real breaks have been around the holidays. Every year, I take off the week of Christmas, sometimes the week before or after as well. And that’s been pretty much it—312 weeks of consistent content with barely any gaps.

The biggest break I’ve ever taken from the show was in 2021 when my first son, Colin, was born. Even then, I prepped a ton of content ahead of time, so episodes kept airing throughout my maternity leave. After that, I switched to an every-other-week schedule for about two months just to ease back into work.

And that’s the thing—you can adjust your podcast schedule however you need to. You can make it fit your life. That two-month shift helped me transition back into work because, honestly, returning to work after having my first baby was really challenging. At the time, we didn’t have paid childcare yet, and I had a lot going on in my business. So cutting back to every other week was a small change that made a big difference.

After my second son, Ethan, was born, I didn’t take any break at all. I had episodes lined up through maternity leave and just kept going. Maybe I skipped a week, but I honestly don’t even think I did.

So now, taking a full three-month break with no new episodes? This is the longest break I’ve ever taken from the podcast in six years. And that feels so crazy to say out loud!

Taking a 3-month break on the podcast

If you’re listening and feeling a little disappointed that there won’t be a new episode every week, first of all—thank you. That means a lot to me. I know it might sound silly, but I truly appreciate that you care enough to feel that way. And I hope you’ll go back and listen to some older episodes in the meantime.

This decision feels both exciting and bittersweet. I am excited to take a break, but it’s okay if you feel a little sad about it too. This was a big and difficult decision for me—even though it’s only three months. I know I might sound more dramatic than I mean to, but honestly, this shift feels huge in my business. And it’s more than just a three-month break—this is a new pattern I’m setting, where I’ll take intentional breaks between seasons.

Podcasting is still one of my favorite things I do in my business.

I know some of you might have questions, and I’ll be answering those in the Q&A section coming up. But first, let’s talk a little more about why I’m making this change.

People often ask me, “How do you come up with so many episodes? How do you keep showing up every single week, especially with a mostly solo podcast?” And I get it—interview-style shows are a ton of work, but at least the host isn’t always the one generating the ideas. For me, since I primarily do solo episodes, I’m responsible for coming up with fresh content every single week.

But here’s the thing—I do it easily because I truly love this work. When I reflect on myself as a business owner, content creation is something that has always come naturally to me. Teaching, too. I love breaking things down in a practical way that helps people learn. Maybe it’s in my blood—my mom was a teacher, my dad was an entrepreneur—so it feels like a blend of both worlds.

And I’ve said it many times before, but this podcast is probably my favorite thing I do in my business. Sitting in my office, talking to you like this—it’s a gift. It’s something I genuinely look forward to every week.

But even with things we love, we still need breaks. Even when something is working, even when it’s successful, stepping away can be a good thing. And I’ll get into this more in the Q&A, but I want to emphasize:

This show is not something that’s failing. In fact, it’s grown significantly in weekly downloads since I started, and it continues to be a major driver of revenue for my template shop and courses. I truly believe this podcast has played a huge role in building my business and making my template shop one of the top ones out there. I’ve also earned a lot through sponsorships over the years.

So it’s not that something isn’t working. It’sm more that I want to take a break from content creation and see what business looks like without constantly planning the next podcast episode.

Taking a break from something that is working

And I think that’s an important point—taking a break doesn’t have to mean stepping away from something you dislike or that isn’t working. So often, we hear advice like, “Oh, if you hate Instagram, just quit it.” And yes, that’s valid. But this is different. I love podcasting, and I’m still choosing to pause.

I’ve been observing myself, paying attention to my life, and I realized: I need a break from this. I want to experience a few months of business where I’m not focused on long-form content creation, where I don’t have a weekly commitment like this.

Instead, I’ll be shifting my attention to other projects in my business. I’ll still create short-form content for social media as I feel inspired, but without the structure of a weekly podcast episode. And I think that’s going to be refreshing.

Ultimately, I also believe this will help me create even better episodes when I return. And I’m really fascinated by this process—it feels like a personal experiment.

Because, honestly, what will it feel like to go from recording episodes every week for six years to suddenly stopping for three months? Yes, six years versus three months is a huge difference in time, but when you think about it in terms of routine, that’s drastic. And then I’ll be taking another break after that.

I’m so curious about how this shift will feel. Will I miss it? Will I feel relieved? How will it impact my business? I plan to spend a lot of time reflecting during this break and just observing my thoughts, seeing how it feels to not be thinking about the next thing to teach.

In a way, this feels a bit like a sabbatical—but just from one area of my work. Like, “Okay, I’ve done this consistently for six years, now let’s see what happens when I step back for a bit.”.

And of course, I’ll report back to you all in a future podcast episode to share the results of this experiment

This is also one of those business decisions not based on profit

So, do I think this is an especially profitable business decision? No, definitely not. This is not a financially motivated decision. My podcast brings in a lot of leads and revenue, and thankfully, I have years' worth of content that will continue to serve my business and attract new listeners even while I take this break.

And that’s one of the really cool and unique things about podcasting—and blogging too, for that matter. I’ll talk more about that in a minute.

But this decision? It’s personal. It’s about what I need right now—especially while I’m pregnant with our third baby. It’s also a decision rooted in curiosity and faith—listening to what God is leading me to do.

For a while now, I’ve been prayerfully considering cutting something back in my business—finding something to pause or take a break from. And especially in this third pregnancy, that desire has only grown.

If you missed it, back in episode 300, I shared the news that we’re expecting baby number three! So, if you’re looking for something to listen to while I’m on break, you can go back and check that episode out. But yeah, three kids, three and under. That’s about to be my life! And this pregnancy is flying by. As I’m recording this, I’m already 21 weeks pregnant, and I’m thinking, How am I already over halfway there?!

So, this break feels like the right move. Especially considering how third pregnancies can be harder when you’re also taking care of little ones.

And, like I’ve said, I love trying new things. I will always believe that podcasting is a worthwhile endeavor in every way, and it will probably always be one of my favorite things I do.

During my break, I’m actually looking forward to plugging in more with my Podcast Success Blueprint students. If you didn’t know, I have a course on podcasting—which I know might sound ironic since I’m taking a podcast break! But I hope this serves as an example that you can take a break too, if you need one.

And I’m really excited to help my Podcast Success Blueprint students during this time—guiding them through launching and growing their own shows.

So, here we go—long-form content break, podcast break… here I come!

I will miss these weekly episodes, but I’m also really excited to see what this change brings.

Answering FAQs about Seasonal Podcast Episodes (& Other Business Decisions)

Now, let’s switch things up and dive into the Q&A section. These are some of the biggest questions I know you’re probably wondering about. My podcast manager actually helped me brainstorm some of these—she’s a podcaster too, so she came at this from the perspective of a business owner with a podcast.

Some of these questions are ones I thought of myself, and some are ones she anticipated you all might be curious about. So, let’s get into it!

Why are you choosing to take a break from something that is profitable?

I know I touched on this earlier in the episode, but I want to approach it from a slightly different angle now.

This isn’t just me repeating that taking a break isn’t one of the most profitable business decisions. Instead, I want to talk about how we, as business owners, often frame the idea of quitting or stepping away from something.

Usually, when we talk about cutting things from our business, we focus on getting rid of what isn’t working—the tasks we don’t enjoy, the strategies that aren’t generating revenue, or the things that feel like a drain. And I actually have an entire episode about this called Your To Quit List—episode 260 of this podcast.

In that episode, I share things you might want to consider removing from your business. But here’s the thing—podcasting wasn’t on that list.

We rarely talk about stepping away from things that we do enjoy and that are profitable but that we simply need a break from. And sometimes, that’s exactly what we need to do.

This break is one of those decisions for me. I’m stepping back from something that is working, that I love, and that brings in revenue—because I have other priorities right now.

And I also feel like I’m in a place in my business where I can do this. I have years' worth of content, and the great thing about podcasting is that the content remains valuable even if it didn’t air last week.

Now, would I have made this same decision if I were only 20 episodes into my podcast? Probably not. But at 307 episodes in, I feel confident in stepping away—not because I have to, but because I want to. I’ve put a lot of thought into this, and this is the decision that makes the most sense for me right now.

Do you think revenue will go down when you stop having weekly episodes?

That’s a great question, and honestly—I have no idea.

Will taking this break impact my business? Maybe.

For years now, my podcast has been one of the top ways customers find me, often accounting for 25 to 30% of my sales. That’s based on responses from customers who, when asked where they heard about my products, say the podcast. That’s a huge number.

Even now, it’s still consistently bringing in sales. Just yesterday, I had a new template sale, and the customer came directly from the podcast. That happens a lot.

So, will that change simply because there won’t be a new episode for three months (and then another break after that), even with over 300 existing episodes available?

I honestly don’t know. My gut says I might see a dip in revenue, but only time will tell. I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on it.

The tricky thing about financial data is that it’s always influenced by multiple factors. If I do see a decrease, is it because of the podcast break? Or would it have happened anyway for some other reason? It’s hard to say.

One area where I know I’ll see a revenue shift is in sponsorships. Since I won’t be releasing new episodes, any sponsorship deals will be on pause. But other revenue streams could balance out that loss, so we’ll see how it plays out.

That being said, it’s also worth noting that running a podcast costs money—especially when you have a long-running show with established systems in place.

For these three months, my expenses will see a decrease, mainly because I won’t be paying my podcast editor or podcast manager during this time. Since team expenses—whether for contractors or employees—are often a significant part of business costs, this is a big shift. And we planned for it well in advance, making sure they were fully prepared for the temporary pause.

I’ll also likely pause at least one of my podcast-related subscriptions, which will save me money as well.

And just as a quick tip—if you’re ever taking a business break of more than a couple of months, pausing certain software subscriptions can be a smart move. Of course, you wouldn’t cancel a membership or something crucial to your business, but pausing things like extra tools or platforms you don’t need for a short time can add up to decent savings.

For example, when I’ve taken maternity leave, I’ve stopped paying for things like Zoom for a few months, and those small decisions really do make a difference.

For this podcast break, I’ll be doing the same with some tools I don’t need while I’m not actively producing new episodes. Obviously, I won’t stop paying for my podcast hosting on Buzzsprout, because that would mean my entire podcast disappears—but there are other services I can pause temporarily.

At the end of the day, I still believe podcasting is an incredible revenue generator and a powerful way to bring in leads. That’s literally why I teach it inside Podcast Success Blueprint! Everything I’ve done to grow this show, I teach in that course.

Was this a data decision or a gut decision?

This, my friends, is entirely a gut decision and a prayerful decision—not a data-driven one.

If I were basing this solely on data, I would actually be increasing my podcasting frequency—maybe even going to twice or three times a week. That’s what the numbers would suggest because my show consistently brings in results. From a purely logical standpoint, it would make sense to double down, invest even more time, money, and energy into it.

But my gut—and more importantly, God—is telling me something different.

I keep hearing: Elizabeth, take a break. Come back stronger. You’ve literally never taken an actual break from this. So let’s try it.

And I want to emphasize something—when it comes to making decisions in your business, both data-driven decisions and gut-driven decisions are valid.

Too often in business, everything is about revenue numbers, increasing followers, scaling growth. And if you consume a lot of business content—podcasts, courses, whatever—it can start to feel like every single decision has to be driven by data, numbers, and strategy.

And yes, making decisions based on data is smart. But if that’s all you ever base your decisions on, you risk building a business that might be successful on paper but leaves you feeling exhausted, unfulfilled, or even burned out.

That’s not where I am—and I think a big reason for that is because I’ve always made decisions using both data and intuition.

My business is about to turn nine years old, and I truly believe the reason I’ve been able to sustain it for this long is because I haven’t relied solely on data.

If I had, I might have pushed myself too hard, chasing numbers instead of building a business I actually enjoy.

So this decision? It’s not about maximizing growth or optimizing revenue.

It’s about following my gut.

How do you make a gut decision like this? What was the process?

I find this really interesting, and maybe you will too—this decision wasn’t something I made overnight. It was a long process.

The idea of taking a break came to me, and honestly, I fully believe it was from the Lord. But when it first crossed my mind, I immediately dismissed it.

I remember thinking, No way. Why would I do that? I love podcasting. It’s profitable, it’s fun, it’s my favorite thing. That’s a terrible idea. If I’m going to take a break from something, it should be something else.

That was my gut reaction—a hard no.

But as time went on, I kept thinking about it. I kept praying about it. And when I really stepped back and asked myself, What’s something I could take a break from? What’s something I consistently dedicate time to every single week?—the answer kept coming back to the podcast.

And that’s when I realized—I’ve never taken a real break from this. Not once.

So the idea kept resurfacing, and I couldn’t shake it. Take a break.

And even though it made sense, it still felt like such a big decision. I actually cried when I told my husband, Adam, that I was thinking about taking a break.

We were sitting up talking after the kids went to sleep, and I just blurted out, I think I might take a break from my podcast. Saying it out loud felt huge—overwhelming, even. And honestly, just thinking back to that moment now (especially with pregnancy hormones in the mix), I could probably cry again.

Now, as I’m talking to you, it doesn’t feel quite as intense. That was months ago—probably around six months now. But when I was still in the decision-making process, it felt so emotional.

Even telling my friends about it made me tear up. It just felt like this massive shift.

And I also worried—what if people take this the wrong way?

Even now, as I’m telling you this, I still have those thoughts:

Will people think I’m not committed enough to my business? Will they see this as me pulling back too much?

When you pause or shift something in your business, it’s easy to worry about how others might perceive it. It’s a real risk.

So if you’ve ever felt that way—wondering if people will judge you, misunderstand you, or question your dedication—you’re not alone. That fear is normal.

But at the end of the day, I just have to trust that you, my listeners, will understand where I’m coming from. And I am still deeply committed to helping you grow your business—I just need this break.

To give you a bit more behind-the-scenes, I told my two podcast team members about this back in mid-December. But even before that, I had been thinking and game-planning for months. I wanted to give them plenty of time to prepare and really explain my decision before we took any action on it.

So, how do you make a gut decision like this?

For me, it took time. It took a lot of thinking, praying, and talking it through with others. And interestingly enough, talking about it actually made it feel less overwhelming.

In my head, it felt like this huge, life-altering shift. But once I started saying it out loud, I realized—Oh. This is actually way more chill than I thought.

Sometimes, a decision doesn’t make sense on paper—but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Instead, I’ve learned to give that voice space—to sit with it, reflect on it, and ask, Huh. That doesn’t seem logical, but maybe I should listen to it anyway.

For me, prayer and journaling were huge in this process. I spent a lot of time writing things out—both with pen and paper and typing things up on my computer.

I asked myself: What would this actually look like? How could this make sense?

And once I put everything down on paper and fully mapped it out, the decision started to make sense. From there, I just took the next step, then the next, until I was ready to take action.

So, that’s my answer to How did I make this gut decision? What was my process like?

It started with listening to that little voice, praying on it, journaling about it, and then finally, putting it all into motion.

Do you have any advice on making tough business decisions?

I've made a lot of tough business decisions over the past nine years. One of the hardest was closing my membership—a decision that, at the time, felt massive. I actually recorded a few podcast episodes about that (episodes 223 and 224), which you can listen to while I’m on this break.

I really want you to come back to me for this next part—because this is the best piece of advice I can give you when it comes to making tough business decisions:

Not every decision is a forever decision.

In fact, most decisions in business aren’t permanent.

If you listened to last week’s episode, my interview with Emily Conley, she talked about this—how not everything has to be a forever thing. You can try something. And I think we often overthink decisions, making them feel way more permanent than they actually are.

Instead of saying, This change is forever, try saying, I’m going to test this out for a while and see how it feels.

Even when I closed my membership, which had 165 people in it at the time, that decision wasn’t necessarily permanent. Yes, that particular membership ended, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start another membership again in the future if I ever feel called to.

So many things in business are less permanent—and honestly, less of a big deal—than we make them out to be. It’s okay to try something, take a risk, and see what happens.

Your business is a marathon, not a sprint.

Your career is a marathon, not a sprint.

And that means things won’t always look the same in every season. And that’s a good thing.

One of the most beautiful parts of running a business—especially the kind of business I have and the kind so many of you have—is that we can adapt it to fit our lives.

Seasons of life change.
Seasons of business change.
And that’s okay.

You don’t have to do everything at once.

For six years, I’ve consistently grown, monetized, and thrived with this podcast. And I’m going to keep doing that. But for six years, I’ve also never taken a true break.

Some of that time was before I became a mother. Some of it was after. But none of it has been with three kids.

So this intentional break, this shift in format—it’s good. It’s worth trying.

And the same applies to you and your business.

What I’m doing here may not be what you need, but maybe, as you’re listening, you’re feeling like there’s something in your own business that needs to shift.

And remember: it doesn’t have to happen overnight.

If you feel like there’s something that needs to change, consider doing it. Pray about it. Journal about it. Sit with it. It takes time to slow down something that’s been running full speed, but you can do it.

You can take a break.
You can pause.
You can even quit something entirely—if that’s what’s right for you.

What marketing efforts are you keeping?

That was a great question from my podcast manager, and honestly, part of my answer is—I’m not entirely sure.

For as long as I’ve had this podcast, I’ve been incredibly structured with how often I release episodes. I’ve been consistent, showing up every single week, usually batching episodes ahead of time to maintain that schedule.

But when I look at the rest of my business, none of my other marketing efforts have had that same level of structure for a while now.

So, to answer the question—I’m keeping all of my other marketing efforts, but I’m keeping them as they’ve been, which is to say, not super structured.

For example, I actually think I’ll show up on Instagram more during this break, simply because I might want a space to create and share content. But that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly committing to a strict Instagram schedule. I’m not setting a rule for myself like, I’ll post four times a week or I’ll show up on stories every day.

Instead, I’ll just continue approaching it the way I have—going with the flow and seeing what feels right.

I’ll also continue sending emails to my list as usual.

And I’m hoping to do a bit more guesting on other podcasts during this break. So if you have a podcast and would like to have me as a guest, feel free to reach out! Being on other people’s shows is such a great marketing tool, and I’d love to do more of it.

Another thing I plan to focus on during this time is blogging, which I’ll talk more about in a moment.

But overall, my goal for marketing during this break is simple: I’m stepping back from my own podcast, but everything else is staying the same.

One thing I might experiment with is finding ways to promote older podcast episodes—especially ones that were really popular when they aired but might not be getting as much visibility now.

I might pick out a few standout episodes and think, How can I get this in front of more people? Maybe that means making the blog post better, repurposing content, or finding new ways to reshare it.

So while I’m taking a break from creating new episodes, I’ll still be active in other areas—and I’m excited to see how this shift plays out!

Do you think that it’ll work fine for every business owner to take a content creation break?

I think a lot of people listening might be dreaming of taking a break from content creation. And I totally get it.

Content creation can feel like a hamster wheel sometimes—always running, always needing to keep up. It can be exhausting, especially when you’re not sure if it’s actually moving the needle in your business.

So, could this kind of break work for you?

I can only speak for my own business, but I think the reason this can work for me is because I already have a lot of content. And that’s not true for everyone.

One thing working in my favor is that podcasting has great SEO—and it’s only improving. Apple, Spotify, and other podcast platforms are constantly making updates to improve searchability, meaning people can find my episodes just by looking up a topic they’re interested in.

That happens all the time—someone searches for a topic, finds one of my episodes, downloads it, and then keeps listening to more episodes. It’s the same way with blogging.

So, whether or not this kind of break would work for your business depends on your content strategy and how people typically find you.

But here’s the thing—you can always try it.

Test it out. Pay attention to the data. Ask yourself:

Is this working?
How do I feel without this content being a constant part of my business?

And then adjust from there.

Not every decision has to be permanent—you can always experiment and see what works best for you!

You've shared how most of your customers come through SEO/podcast... Do you think that will be affected?

When we talk about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), we’re referring to how people find content through search engines like Google. In my business, I primarily think about SEO in relation to blog posts—people searching for something and landing on my website because of it.

And the great thing? I don’t expect this part of my business to be affected by my podcast break.

That’s because the relevance of a podcast episode or a blog post isn’t dependent on new content being released every week.

For example, if someone is searching for information on a specific topic and they find an episode I released eight months ago, it’s still just as relevant to them—even if I haven’t released a new episode that month. They’re interested in that topic, so they download it and listen.

The same goes for blog posts and web pages. When you find something on Google, you’re not checking to see if that website published a new post last week—you just care that the information is relevant to what you’re searching for.

Now, of course, keeping a website up to date and regularly creating new content does help with SEO—but that’s a slightly different conversation.

In my business, some of my top traffic-generating blog posts and pages were published over a year ago, and they’re still driving people to my site.

So when it comes to older podcast episodes—people finding and listening to them through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or even YouTube—I don’t expect this to change just because I’m not publishing new episodes for a few months.

And that’s actually one of the reasons I encourage people to just try starting a podcast. So many people want to start a podcast but feel overwhelmed by the idea of committing to hundreds of episodes.I totally get that. It can feel like a massive, never-ending commitment.

But here’s the thing—
You don’t have to do it forever for it to be worth it.

You can take breaks whenever you want. You can adjust your format. You can do whatever you want with your show.

Even if you only release 20 episodes and never touch it again, those episodes can still bring in new customers, leads, and revenue for years to come.

That’s the beauty of this kind of content—it keeps working for you, even when you step away.

How did I decide on the break format?

I'm not taking a long break—just March, April, and May. So, three months with no new episodes. Then, my plan is to come back for four to five episodes, and after that, I'll take another break for my maternity leave. I’ll be back again in the fall.

I actually teach all about this inside Podcast Success Blueprint—how to find a rhythm that works for you, your recording process, and your life. Your show’s format doesn’t have to stay the same forever. You can test things, adjust as needed, and you don’t have to make a big announcement about it (though I am, because I think this change is significant).

And honestly, this feels like a huge shift for me after going six years without a real break.

As I was planning this, I actually went back and reviewed all the options I teach in Podcast Success Blueprint—and this seasonal approach just felt right. It gives me a real pause, almost like a mini sabbatical, so that when I return, I’m showing up fully refreshed and intentional.

And yes, this format is very much based on my personal life—timed around my due date and maternity leave. But it’s also strategic.

For example, I’ll be airing episodes throughout October and November, right before Black Friday—which is a big sales season. That way, I can be actively promoting my offers at a time when people are already looking to buy.

This is something I always tell my students—you can structure your business to work for you. You don’t have to follow some artificial rule about how things “should” be done.

If you’re thinking about moving your podcast (or any content) to a more seasonal format, you can structure it however you want! It doesn’t have to be a strict three months on, three months off pattern. You can tailor it based on:

Your personal life and energy levels
Your promotional calendar and sales cycles
Your audience’s listening habits

That last one is key. Part of my break timing aligns with the fact that podcast downloads tend to dip in the summer—kids are out of school, people are vacationing, and overall, fewer people are plugged into podcasts.

So when planning your own break (if that’s something you’re considering), take into account your lifestyle, your marketing needs, and even your audience’s behavior. That way, it serves both you and your business in the best way possible.

What will you be doing with the time this podcast break frees up?

I’m really excited to spend my intentionally limited work time over the next three months focusing on other projects. Since I’m with my kids a lot these days, I only have about two and a half workdays per week, and I want to be really intentional with how I use that time.

One of my biggest focuses will be designing new templates—I’m working on four new designs right now, and one is already almost finished! Honestly, designing is going to take up a lot of my time—being in Showit, creating new templates, fine-tuning the designs, and then ultimately working on the marketing and setup so customers can start using them.

Because once a template is designed, the work isn’t done. There are still a lot of steps—getting everything finalized, creating the listings, writing descriptions, setting up previews, and planning launch strategies. So that’s going to be a big focus for me.

I’ll also be hosting more coaching and co-working calls for my Booked Out Designer and Podcast Success Blueprint students. If you’re in either of those courses, definitely check the call schedule—there are some fun things planned!

And as I mentioned earlier, I might be doing some blogging.

There are a few blog posts I’ve been wanting to write for a while, and some content ideas just make more sense in a blog format than a podcast.

For example, I want to update my postpartum freezer meal blog with new recipes I’ve been using. I even have two new recipes I’d love to share. Not that I’m trying to become a recipe blogger or anything—it’s just something fun for me.

I also have a few maternity and baby-related posts in mind—topics that wouldn’t really make sense as podcast episodes but would work well as blog content.

That said, I do want to feel like I’m truly taking a long-form content break, so if blogging starts to feel like too much, I might scale it back. But I love writing, and I enjoy creating content in that way, so I think it’s likely I’ll still do some.

But overall, the main thing I’ll be focusing on is designing templates—that’s going to be my biggest project during this break.

Are you decreasing the amount you’re working (less than two days a week)?

Another question that came up was am I taking an even bigger break from my business as a whole? Like, will I only be working one day a week or something like that?

The answer is not really—I’m still working my normal two and a half days per week, just without the podcast.

But if you’ve ever been pregnant (or gone through an adoption process), you know that the to-do list leading up to bringing a new baby home is huge.

So I will be using some of my work time for baby prep instead of business tasks.

A few things on that list:

Buying a new car—we’re getting a minivan! Someone actually asked me on Instagram if we’d get one with a third baby, and at first, I didn’t think so. But after doing tons of car research (which, yes, has sometimes happened when I have childcare time), I decided a van makes the most sense. I just test-drove a few and have narrowed down my choice, so now I just need to actually buy the car.
Selling one of our current cars—because we don’t need three cars, so that’s another big task.
Moving my office—right now, my office is upstairs, but we’re moving it downstairs to combine offices with Adam. He doesn’t really need a home office anymore, so his space will become mine. That means:
- Moving Collin’s bedroom into my current office
- Turning Collin’s old room into the nursery
- Installing new doors on my future office for better soundproofing (because right now, it's not great for recording).
- Lots of furniture moving and setup. It’s a whole project.
Buying a chest freezer for the garage—I’m planning to prep a lot of freezer meals, and our kitchen freezer just isn’t cutting it.
Going to all my prenatal appointments—including my glucose test, which is basically a half-day ordeal.
General baby prep—buying what we need, organizing baby gear, and getting everything ready for July.

So while I’m not necessarily reducing my work hours, I am shifting how I spend some of that time. Just like in my other pregnancies, I’m taking some work time and dedicating it to family and baby prep—because all of this has to get done before July, and there’s a lot to do!

Now that we’ve talked about my business decisions, what should you do while there’s a break?

First of all, I’d love to hear from you about this change! When this episode airs, I’ll have a blog post that goes with it, and if you have any thoughts or additional questions, come chat with me there. I might even do a Q&A on my Instagram Stories this week to answer more questions, because I know that as we wrap up, you might be thinking, Wait, I had a question that didn’t get covered!

So, come find me on Instagram—I’ll be sharing more there, and I might do additional Q&As while I’m not producing new podcast episodes.

Catch Up on Old Episodes!

If you’re missing weekly episodes, I highly encourage you to go back and listen to old ones!

Some of you might not listen regularly but tuned in today because you were curious about this change. If that’s the case, now is a great time to explore past episodes.

And if you’re looking for something specific, here’s a little search tip:

In your podcast app, type:
Breakthrough Brand + [your topic]
Examples: Breakthrough Brand SEO, Breakthrough Brand Motherhood, Breakthrough Brand Marketing

That will pull up all the episodes I’ve done on that subject so you can find exactly what you’re looking for.

You can also do the same thing on my blog—just use the search bar to find website tips, branding advice, or any other business-related content. Everything is well-organized and categorized, so it’s easy to find what you need!

Other Ways to Stay Connected & Keep Learning

If you want to stay in the loop, I’d encourage you to join my email list—I’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes updates there, and it’s another great way to stay connected.

And if you’re looking to keep learning from me in a different format, consider joining one of my courses:

Booked Out Designer – for designers wanting to grow their business
Podcast Success Blueprint – for anyone looking to start or grow a podcast

I’ll link to both of those in the show notes, but they’re also on my website if you want more info. Or grab one of my website templates to build an incredible site for your business!

Final Thoughts… & A Thank You!

Again, I really encourage you to catch up on old episodes while I’m on this short break. And come say hi on Instagram—I’ll be sharing updates, interviews I do on other podcasts, and maybe some extra short-form content there.

Thank you for listening all the way to the end of this episode. And thank you for your support in this new season!

Links Mentioned:

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

Thanks to our sponsor, Christian Heathcare Ministries! CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry and is a faith-based alternative to traditional health insurance. My family has been using CHM for our healthcare for 4+ years now, and we couldn’t be more pleased. As a business owner we all know healthcare is outrageously expensive with CHM you can save money on your budget and know if a medical situation ever arises CHM will be there to take care of you and share 100% of your eligible bills. Learn more here!

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, BDOW!. You can supercharge your email list growth with BDOW!. This powerful software helps you target the right visitor with the right message at the right time. Get 25% off your subscription with the code "ELIZABETH" for a limited time! Click here to grab the deal and snag a free BDOW! template I designed just for you and start building a bigger email list, faster!

The post A Candid Conversation About Making a Shift to The Breakthrough Brand Podcast (+ a REAL Look at How I Make Big Business Decisions & a Q&A) appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

Taking a Family Gap Year As An Entrepreneur: Homeschooling, Traveling Abroad, and Ditching Instagram (While Growing Your Business) with Emily Conley

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 22 minutes

Okay, you guys are in for such a treat with this episode! We’re covering a bunch of topics that I haven’t really had a guest on to talk about before. We’re going all over the place—diving into what it’s like to run a lifestyle business, travel, homeschool, and manage it all. It was such a fun conversation, and I personally learned a lot. I walked away feeling really inspired.

Today, I’m talking with Emily Conley. She’s a friend of mine, and we’ve worked together for many years in my own business. She’s also been a customer of mine, and I’ve been a customer of hers. She’s just such a joy to learn from and talk to. This conversation feels really casual because these are the kinds of things we chat about all the time when we’re on work calls and catching up on life.

It was so much fun to pick her brain about some things at length. We talked about:

Losing your Instagram account after four years of building a business—and what it’s like to run a business without social media
Whether it’s possible to start and grow a business from scratch without social media at all
Taking a year off to travel with your family while still running a business
Homeschooling as a business owner and being an "unlikely homeschooler"—what that has looked like for Emily
Her daily life—homeschooling, living somewhere new, and running a business all at the same time
What their family’s schedule looks like and how they make it work
Advice for traveling as a family, homeschooling, running a business VIP day-style, and so much more

We cover a lot of different but related topics, getting really detailed on how Emily makes it all work—the challenges, the wins, and everything in between. I think you guys are really going to enjoy this conversation.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 306!

Who is Emily Conley?

Emily is a copywriter and brand messaging strategist. She specializes in writing clear, compelling copy that converts, and she’s obsessed with helping her clients tap into the power of their brand voice and use their words to attract their dream clients and make effortless sales.

The one thing Emily does best? Amplifying your unique brand message, making sure that every word sounds like the best version of you and your brand. She’s meticulous, efficient, and never wastes a word.

When she’s not working her copy magic, you’ll find Emily living her best digital nomad life traveling the world with her family of 3.

Your Instagram Was Hacked in 2023. Can You Talk About What That Was Like?

It was honestly a nightmare. Let me just set the stage because this is a good one. So, I’m flying back from Madrid to Nashville, and we had splurged on business class upgrades—something we never do. I was feeling so cool, sitting in my little pod, thinking, wow, this is legit. So, I decided to do a little “Ask Me Anything” on Instagram from my fancy business class seat, feeling like a real business owner.

And then—boom. White screen. I got logged out. Just like that.

I tried to log back in, and an error message popped up. I don’t even remember exactly what it said now, but it was basically like, you’ve done something wrong, and it’s over. But there was an option to appeal.

So, I appealed. It’s all done through online forms, so I filled one out. Two days later, I got an email from Instagram saying, Oh my gosh, we’re so sorry—that was an accident. You didn’t violate anything. We’ve restored your account. Let us know if you have any issues.

But I still couldn’t log in. Ever.

Every time I tried, I got the same error message. And there’s no real way to contact anyone. You’re just at the mercy of a chatbot, emails, and automated forms. I must have submitted that appeal form at least 60 times—I don’t even know. I kept trying for weeks, but I could never get it back.

And then…it was just gone.

Over 80% of my business came from Instagram—probably more. It wasn’t just my main traffic source; it was almost my only driver. I was doing other things, but that’s where everyone was coming in from. And beyond that, I had built such a strong community there.

I was always on Stories, constantly creating and engaging. There was so much content—things I had poured hours of time, energy, and creativity into. Losing all of that was honestly the saddest part. It was just gone.

It was a huge blow. I had put so much into it, and suddenly, I had no idea what was going to happen. I wasn’t even sure if I’d still have a business.

What was your initial reaction after losing the account and then ultimately what you ended up doing?

At first, I was just horrified. It was a total shock.

But two things really helped me. First, I had built a really strong community on Instagram, and many of those people had other ways of reaching me. We were connected on Voxer, through email, or in other ways. So, when I disappeared, a lot of people reached out, asking what had happened and where I was—which was really nice. I also still had referrals coming in, so I wasn’t completely cut off.

The second thing that saved me was my email list. I had been growing it over time, and it was actually bigger than my Instagram audience, which turned out to be a huge advantage. So, I leaned hard into email marketing. I let everyone know what had happened, reassured them that I was still in business, and just kept going.

A few months later, I decided to create a second Instagram account, Emily Writes Well 2.0. But then…six months later, that account got deleted too.

You have your original handle back now, right?

By the time enough time had passed, my original Instagram handle became available again, so I grabbed it. But honestly, I think I’ve only posted maybe three times—I’m still not sure what I want to do with it.

The main reason I even wanted to have an Instagram again was because I do a lot of collaborations, and without an account, people couldn’t tag me in projects we worked on. I really missed that accessibility. I love being introduced to new audiences through my collaborations, especially when it’s with someone I’ve worked with before, because their audience often includes people I’d love to work with, too. So I was definitely missing out on that.

I still haven’t fully decided what to do. I’ve thought about just setting up one of those nine-grid layouts—where you post a set of static posts and leave it at that—while only showing up in Stories. But I haven’t committed to anything yet.

To be extra cautious, I created the new account using a completely new email—like, a brand-new Gmail that wasn’t tied to any of my business accounts—just in case I was somehow blacklisted. Honestly, I still don’t know.

You’ve been off Instagram for a while but still had your highest revenue year last year—while also traveling and homeschooling. What do you think made that possible without social media?

It really came down to the referral network I’ve built. Last year, over half of my clients were repeat clients—people I had worked with before.

Another 10–20% came from organic search through my website. And the rest? All referrals or people connected to my referral network.

So, I barely marketed my business at all last year—which, to be honest, isn’t a strategy I’d recommend! But even without active marketing, I still had my highest revenue year while doing so many other things.

That said, this year looks very different. I have a more intentional marketing strategy in place (outside of Instagram), so we’ll see how that shifts things. But for one year, at least, I made it work. I just don’t think it’s a long-term strategy.

For a new service-based business, like a copywriter, do you think it’s possible to succeed without social media, or what would you recommend based on your experience?

That’s such a great question. I was able to step away from Instagram after five years of intentional building—but I don’t think I could have started without it.

Almost all of my referral network originally came from Instagram. I built relationships, established authority, and earned trust there. While you can make meaningful connections outside of Instagram (one of my best referral clients came from an in-person networking event), Instagram was key for me in the early days.

If you're just starting out and don’t love Instagram, my advice is to stick with it long enough to build connections. Focus on community over metrics or going viral. And, at the same time, build your email list—because that gives you the freedom to eventually step away from social media if you want to.

Instagram is the best free marketing tool I’ve found for establishing a presence, networking, and finding opportunities. Many of my in-person connections actually started there. So while it is possible to grow without social media, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without laying that foundation first.

For business owners who’ve been at it for a while but feel over Instagram or TikTok—not looking to delete their account, but not wanting to put as much energy into it—what advice would you give them?

Just do it—step away. There’s so much freedom in not relying on social media.

If you're not being forced off the platform, you can be intentional about it. You don’t have to make a big announcement or explain yourself—just take a break. Try stepping away for a week each month and see how it feels.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this past year is that nothing has to be permanent. You can experiment. If you step away and realize you miss it, you can always come back—no big deal. Sometimes we make these decisions feel bigger than they are, like they’re forever, but they’re not. You’re allowed to change your mind.

What inspired you to take a family gap year?

My husband and I used to live in Australia—our daughter was actually born while we were living in Sydney. But having a newborn 10,000 miles away from family was really tough, so we moved back to Nashville when she was 10 weeks old. We've been here for about six years now.

We actually tried to move back to Sydney through my husband’s job. We got really close—sold my car, started listing our house—but then his company implemented a global hiring freeze, and the whole plan fell apart.

Since a permanent move wasn’t possible, we started thinking: What if we just slow-traveled instead? Instead of settling in one place, we could spend a month or two in different locations and try out new places. Our daughter was six and starting first grade, which felt like the perfect time—she was still young, not tied down by school or friends yet.

The biggest challenge was my husband's job. Even though he was working remotely at the time, his company was shifting toward in-office work again. Plus, there were legal restrictions—he couldn’t just live in another country for months (at his current company).

When he finally decided, Hey, I can walk away from this job and see what else is possible, that changed everything. It opened up all kinds of new options for us.

How long were you gone for?

Yeah, so we started with six months on the road. We traveled for exactly six months, then came back home for the holidays to spend time with family. We've been here for about six weeks, but later this week, we’re heading out again for another six months—we have everything planned through June.

We started in Costa Rica, which was an easy transition since the time zones matched my work schedule. We stayed in a beachside condo with a pool—it was beautiful. But it was also more rustic than we expected. One surprising thing was how expensive it was—groceries actually cost more there than in Nashville! Restaurants were also around the same price or even more, which we hadn’t expected. And then there were the roads—sometimes they just turned into dirt paths or even went straight through a river. Definitely an adventure!

We spent two months there, then flew to Colombia, then on to London, where we met my parents for a road trip through the UK. After that, we spent five or six weeks on the Greek island of Naxos, followed by time in Valencia, Spain—where we experienced a massive flood. Being in a foreign country during a natural disaster was eye-opening, but thankfully, we were safe.

We ended with three weeks in Marrakech, Morocco, before heading back home.

Did you have to make any major shifts, like selling a home or selling cars and things like that in order to do this?

Yes, we kept our house and found a long-term renter.

Our realtor, who also manages properties and is a close friend, handled everything for us. We had about six different families come look at the house before choosing the best fit. So far, everything has gone really smoothly—knock on wood!

Almost completely empty. We sold most of our furniture—some of it I was fine parting with, but I did love our couches! We also sold a few things to the renter, like our washer and dryer, since we didn’t want to deal with repairs or replacements. We also sold some outdoor furniture and bar stools, but most things went on Marketplace. My husband handled that, and honestly, selling everything was like a full-time job!

We also sold both of our cars. So we kept the house but sold the cars and furniture. And the biggest change—my husband quit his job. That was huge because his job provided our health insurance, and he had been with the company for 13 years. It felt really scary at first, but once he did it, we realized—we're fine. It was okay.

We have a small 8x10 storage unit where we kept things like our Christmas ornaments, some of my daughter's toys (including her Barbie Dream House), and my better cookware—just things that would be easy to move when we return.

What would you say was the biggest mindset shift or challenge in making it happen?

So many emotions. It was a long process—we started planning about a year before we actually left. My husband and I knew about it early on, but we didn’t tell anyone until later in the process.

I think the biggest shift was realizing that we didn’t have to commit forever. Choosing to rent our house instead of selling it made everything feel so much less permanent. And we had done something similar before—when we moved to Sydney, we had only been married for 18 months, and we had just built a brand-new house. We actually built a house and planned a wedding at the same time—we closed on the house the week of our wedding, which was wild. It was our perfect little starter home, and then we sold everything and moved.

So, we had already been through the experience of selling, moving, and letting go of a home. But this time, I had to remind myself that home isn’t about the house—it’s about the three of us being together. That was a big mindset shift for me.

On paper, it kind of looked like I was pulling my daughter away from this great situation. She was thriving and had just gotten into a really competitive magnet school that you have to test into. It’s really hard to get in, and we knew that by leaving, she probably wouldn’t be able to go back. But since we weren’t planning on returning to the same community, it felt okay.

The hardest part was worrying about stability—wondering, Am I wrecking my kid? But we’ve been really intentional about checking in, both before we left and throughout our travels. We always ask, How’s everyone doing? How are we feeling? And we’ve kept the mindset that if, at any point, any one of us is unhappy, we can adjust. Nothing is permanent. We can always make changes.

Did you ever see yourself homeschooling before this gap year?

Yes! So, I was a teacher—that was my first job out of college. I didn’t originally go to school for teaching, but I did a non-traditional program to become a teacher and ended up teaching kindergarten and first grade.

So, going into homeschooling, I thought, I got this. I know how to structure a curriculum, set objectives—all of that. To be honest, that part isn’t too hard. Anyone can do it. But…I never actually wanted to homeschool. I have a very strong-willed child, and I liked that she went off to school and someone else handled that part for seven hours a day!

Turns out, homeschooling is so much harder and way more time-consuming than I expected.

The biggest mindset shift I’ve had to make is redefining what “school” looks like. I used to think of it as sitting down, working in a workbook, doing formal lessons. But now, I realize it’s so much broader than that.

For example, when we were in Valencia, we spent an entire day at the aquarium. My daughter is obsessed with sharks, so we explored the massive shark exhibit, and she read every plaque about them. We sat on a bench, identified different species, and she started teaching us facts she had just learned. It was this totally immersive experience.

And then, when we got home, my instinct was, Okay, now we need to sit down and do school. But then I caught myself—wait, no, that was school. That was four hours of real, hands-on learning.

Same thing when we were in Greece. In Naxos, there’s this 2,000-year-old arch from the Temple of Apollo right at the port. One day, we hiked up to it, learned about its history, and that sparked my daughter’s interest in Greek mythology. She started reading mythology books, and then we visited the archaeology museum.

So, I’ve had to shift my thinking—realizing that these immersive, hands-on experiences are school. In many ways, they’re even better than traditional lessons.

How much time do you spend homeschooling every day?

Yes! Homeschooling doesn’t take as much time as a regular school day. Legally, in Tennessee, you’re required to do four hours of instruction per day—but honestly, even in traditional schools, I don’t think kids spend a full four hours actually learning. There are so many transitions and other activities throughout the day.

I chose not to purchase a curriculum, so I do all the planning myself. If I had bought a curriculum and just followed it, it would take a lot less time. But part of the reason I went this route is because my daughter is pretty advanced—she’s in first grade but about to finish third-grade math. She loves math and reading, so I wanted to tailor her education to her level rather than following a set program.

A lot of my time early on went into having her take placement tests so I could figure out exactly where she was academically. That way, I’m not spending time teaching things she already knows. If I had been homeschooling her from kindergarten, I would have already known that, and following a structured curriculum might have been easier.

I also chose not to buy a curriculum because we’re traveling—I didn’t want to carry around a bunch of books. Plus, I wanted the flexibility to customize her learning since she’s at different levels in different subjects. In traditional school, teachers have to teach to the middle, which makes sense in that setting. But since we’re homeschooling, I figured we might as well take full advantage of the flexibility.

As for balancing homeschooling with my business, her dad handles all of her math lessons. We use Khan Academy, which is amazing—and completely free! Since I don’t have four extra hours on top of my work, having him take on that part has been really helpful, especially since I’ve been working quite a bit.

I know every day is different when you're traveling, but can you share what a typical day looks like—balancing homeschooling, exploring, and work while being in different countries?

Yes! One interesting thing is that since we’ve spent a lot of time in Europe, the time zone difference—anywhere from six to eight hours ahead—has actually worked in our favor.

We start our days slowly. We wake up around 9 AM, no alarms—just whenever we naturally wake up. My daughter sleeps in because she doesn’t go to bed until midnight!

In some places, we’d go to the playground in the morning. But in Greece, we quickly realized that no one was at the playground until at least 8 or 9 PM. From 8 to 11 PM, it was packed!

It was really interesting! So in the mornings, we’d start with school—either ELA or math. Then we’d all have lunch together, which became our main meal of the day. Since I wasn’t working yet at that point, I’d cook a full meal around lunchtime.

After lunch, Charlotte would do her second block of school—whichever subject she hadn’t done earlier. Then, she and my husband would usually go out and do something together. In Greece, we were just eight minutes from the beach, so they’d often head there to play.

I’d start work around 3 PM, which was when people in the U.S. were starting to wake up. I’d take calls and work until about 11 PM, with a break for dinner. But dinner was usually something simple—like a salad, soup, or sandwich—basically what we would normally eat for lunch back home. On weekends, we’d go out, but for the most part, we cooked at home.

Since we stay in Airbnbs, we have full kitchens, and we live pretty normally. I think a big misconception is that traveling like this feels like a vacation, but it’s really just everyday life—just in different places.

For example, like I said in Greece, we’d head to the playground in the evenings. In Spain, Charlotte attended a forest school two days a week, which was really fun. My husband would take her in the mornings, and she’d spend the whole day outside, building things, exploring, and just being in nature—no matter the weather, for seven hours a day! That was nice because it gave me a full workday.

So, most days followed a rhythm—family time in the morning, a little outing, then I’d work in the evening while my husband and daughter hung out, played Mario Kart, and did normal things. Then we’d all head to bed around midnight!

What has your husband’s work been like since y'all started traveling?

He’s doing a couple of things. He actually started his own Google Ads/PPC marketing business, so he has a handful of clients there. In the beginning, he kept it pretty small, but as we move forward, he’s planning to put a lot more time into it.

He’s also been working behind the scenes in my business, which has been really helpful. You mentioned earlier about being a service provider without passive income—that’s something I’m trying to change, and he’s been setting up systems to help with that.

On top of that, he handles a lot of the household stuff—all the grocery shopping, daily errands, and most of Charlotte’s care when I’m working. So, in a way, he’s kind of like a stay-at-home dad, which he’s really enjoyed. It’s been fun for them to build a new bond.

I stayed home with Charlotte until she was in pre-K, so we had that time together. Now, it’s special for her and Donnie to have that same kind of connection.

What would you say has been the most rewarding part of taking a family gap year?

The best part is seeing the learning process happen in real time. Young kids are like little sponges, and it’s amazing to watch what Charlotte picks up.

We’ll do an activity together, and later, when we talk about it, I love seeing what stood out to her—what she noticed, what she remembers. We also keep a family travel journal, and hearing her perspective on our experiences is just so special. She’s learned so much, and it’s incredible to actually see that growth happening.

We always joke that we’re making too many core memories—we can’t possibly hold onto them all! But honestly, this whole experience has been unbelievable, and I’m so grateful for it.

And then, of course, there’s her sense of humor—which has really sharpened while we’ve been traveling. My husband and I are both pretty sarcastic, and he’s hilarious. (I think I’m funny, too!) So watching her humor develop has been absolutely hilarious.

For anyone listening who’s thinking, I’d love to travel with my family while running a business, what advice would you give them—maybe something you wish you had known when you first started your family gap year?

I think it’s a lot more accessible than it might seem. You can do both—travel with your family and run a business.

There have been days where I’ve felt like I was on vacation with my family and worked a full day. It’s totally possible. Before, when I went on vacation, I wouldn’t even bring my laptop—I treated it as a full break. But shifting my mindset to see this as just everyday life made a big difference.

Even if you can’t do long-term travel, taking just a month—especially in the summer—can be so special. Being in a new place changes your perspective. We’ve also noticed that we’re a lot nicer to each other while traveling because we rely on each other more!

From a business perspective, it’s absolutely doable. I run a fully service-based business—I make all of my money working directly with clients—and it’s still been way more flexible than I expected. You can have both the travel adventure and your work. We’ve made it work!

Let’s shift to your business and what it’s been like working on the go. For those who don’t know, can you share exactly what you do? I know what you do, but walk us through what a typical work session looks like for you.

So, I’m a writer—I write all kinds of things for my clients.

This past year, while I was in Costa Rica, I actually ghostwrote a book for a client, which was totally new for me. I had never done it before, but it ended up being the most magical project. The book is called Identity Marketing, and it just came out this week—so you can check it out if you want! That process involved sitting on the balcony, writing, while my client and I had calls where she’d download all her thoughts, give me notes, and then I’d shape them into a book. We went back and forth, refining everything—it was very collaborative.

But typically, my work looks more like writing emails, websites, and sales pages. That usually starts with a 45-minute to 90-minute call with a client (especially if they’re new) to go over their project, brand voice, and all the details. Then, once I have that, I dive deep into writing.

I focus on one project at a time, so if I’m writing a website, that might take more than a day. But if it’s a sales page or an email campaign, that’s usually my main focus for the day.

Are you still offering mostly VIP days and half-VIP days?

Yeah, I kept the same pricing model because it worked really well—it’s a flat rate, and it makes sense. But I don’t actually do everything in one day anymore because it’s just not feasible with how my life works now.

Instead, I set a deadline, usually about a week. Realistically, I’m still doing most of the work in a single day, but I need a little more flexibility. When Charlotte was in school for seven hours, I could easily knock everything out in one focused session. Now, my work time is more broken up, so I’ve adjusted.

I still call it the same thing, but now it’s more project deadline-based rather than a strict one-day turnaround.

How does that structurally work for you in traveling and even from a marketing perspective with VIP days?

Yeah, I’d say one of the biggest challenges is scheduling calls.

If I’ve worked with someone before, we try to communicate asynchronously—through Voxer or Loom—because it’s just easier. But when calls are necessary, I work with clients who have some flexibility.

Now, as we move into Australia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia, I honestly don’t know how scheduling will work with those time zones—I haven’t figured that part out yet!

Another challenge has been setting realistic boundaries. I love a fast turnaround—if you’ve worked with me, you know I usually deliver within a couple of days. But I had to lengthen my timelines because life while traveling is less predictable.

Before, my kid went to school for seven hours a day, and my schedule was more structured. Now, things are more spontaneous, plus we have travel days sprinkled in. I have to factor in things like, Oh, I’m flying on Thursday, so I won’t actually be working that day.

I’ve learned that as long as I set proper expectations with clients, they’re totally fine with it. The issue comes when I overpromise—saying, Oh yeah, I’ll have this to you tomorrow, and then it turns into Friday…then Monday. That starts to feel flaky, which I hate.

So, my advice for anyone doing this: Give yourself time to figure it out and be upfront and clear with clients. When I bring on new clients, I let them know, Hey, here’s my situation. Some people need more structure and stability, and that’s totally fine—it doesn’t hurt my feelings at all. But clear communication from the start makes all the difference!

Do you feel like you are using your calendar a lot?

It’s wild! I use Google Calendar, which lets you set two time zones. So I keep Central Time as one and then change the second time zone to wherever I am. That helps me track my available windows—otherwise, I completely lose track of what time it is for my clients.

I’ve also had to get really strict with my calendar. Before, I was super flexible and would just go with the flow, but now I block out large chunks of time to prevent over-scheduling.

Since I offer one-on-one 90-minute sessions, people book directly using a scheduling link. So I have to make sure I’ve blocked off times where I don’t want calls sneaking in.

Right now, my entire calendar is basically a blackout zone until I get to Sydney and figure out how to make it work in that time zone.

Another thing I’m working on is only taking calls on two days per week instead of spreading them out across all my workdays. I’ve had days where I’m doing a one-on-one session at 10 PM, which runs until 11:30 PM. Even though I sleep in, I’m still not at my best that late at night.

So now, I’m trying to batch all my calls into one or two days. That way, I can plan ahead—maybe have some afternoon coffee and power through—but I’m not draining myself by doing late-night calls every day.

This whole experience has forced me to finally implement so many best practices I knew about but never actually had to follow.

I’ve had to streamline everything—there’s so much time I used to waste on little things that I just can’t afford to waste anymore. It’s made me a much more efficient business owner, which has been a huge benefit.

Honestly, if you took just a month to work while traveling—even if it wasn’t internationally, just somewhere different with your family—you’d probably find yourself becoming a better business owner. When your time is limited, you have no choice but to focus on what actually moves the needle.

You mentioned that there were things you used to waste time on but can’t anymore. Can you share some of those? What were the biggest time-wasters, or what are you doing more efficiently now?

Yeah, a big one was bouncing around between tasks.

I have retainer clients where I do the same work for them every month, and I used to think I was being efficient by squeezing tasks into little breaks. Like, Oh, I have 15 minutes—I'll write one email for this client now and come back to the rest later. But that actually made things take longer because I was constantly stopping and restarting.

Now, I focus on batching my work. If I sit down and write all four emails for that client at once, I can finish in two-thirds of the time it used to take.

Another big time-waster? Social media. I used to try to write blog posts and keep up with online groups, but I’ve cut all of that. I left some networking groups I was in because I just didn’t have the time to show up consistently.

Now, my business is very lean—there’s no extra fluff.

I also barely scroll on social media anymore. And I haven’t done a face-to-camera story on my new Instagram account yet—I went so long without doing them that now it feels weird! But honestly? It’s just not a priority right now, so I don’t touch any of it.

When you were making your business more lean, as you said, did you do journaling or writing out anything to help you figure out what needs to be cut or did it just happen naturally?

I’d love to say I had this really thoughtful, strategic process—but honestly, no.

A lot of these changes happened simply because I had to make them. I put myself in a situation where I didn’t have the luxury of avoiding things I had been meaning to do for years. I’ve been in this space for a while, I love personal and professional development, and I’ve had all these ideas like, Oh, that’d be nice to do. But because I didn’t have to do them, I never actually did.

So, in many ways, I was forced into being more efficient—and it was messy.

Some things I deprioritized at first, and now I’m starting to bring them back. Right now, I’m mapping out what it looks like to put more time into marketing—figuring out how that will shift my schedule.

I used to have dedicated time in my calendar for my own projects, but that completely disappeared while traveling. Now, I’m experimenting with rebuilding that structure, playing around with my calendar, and seeing where I can fit things back in.

Do you have any final advice for listeners feeling inspired by this conversation (whether it’s homeschooling, traveling abroad, or running a business without Instagram)?

The biggest lesson I’ve learned—and I think it’s worth sharing—is that this is your life and your business.

So many of us don’t make the changes we truly want—whether it’s quitting Instagram, shifting how we work, adding passive income, or doing more in-person events. And why? Because it feels hard, it’s a little scary, and we worry about meeting other people’s expectations.

For me, I’ve realized that plenty of people disapprove of my choices, and plenty of people judge me for them. And honestly? I don’t care. As long as I’ve thought things through and know I’m doing what’s best for me, my family, and my business, that’s all that matters.

I know some people assume I shut down my business just because I’m not on Instagram. A friend even told me she kept hearing, Oh, did she close her business? What happened to her? And sure, I don’t love that people think I disappeared. But life goes on, and business goes on.

On paper, traveling full-time might look a little crazy, but it’s actually been really intentional. We have spreadsheets, bank accounts, safety nets—this wasn’t a reckless leap.

So my advice? Do what feels right. And remember—nothing is permanent.

When we started this, we said, If after six months this is terrible, we can come back. We could rent an Airbnb in our same town, stay with family—there were options. And the same applies to your business.

If you want to make a change, just try it—because I’ve found that, on the whole, this has been much easier than I expected.

Connect with Emily Conley of Emily Writes Well

Head to Emily Writes Well to connect with Emily! You can also follow her on Instagram @emilywriteswell and @slowdowntravelmore

You can also hear a previous episode with Emily on the Breakthrough Brand Podcast here: How to Write Emails That *Actually* Get Opens, Clicks, and Replies With Emily Conley

Links Mentioned:

Watch this interview on Youtube

Follow Emily on Instagram & Her Travel Account

Work with Emily

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The post Taking a Family Gap Year As An Entrepreneur: Homeschooling, Traveling Abroad, and Ditching Instagram (While Growing Your Business) with Emily Conley appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

How to Navigate Becoming a Mom When You Already Have a Business You Love

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 05:00:29 +0000

Reading Time: 19 minutes

I am so excited about today’s episode. I honestly think this will become one of my all-time favorite episodes to record. I’ve been working on this outline for months—it’s eight pages long all about having a business before motherhood!

I hope these tips are helpful to you and make a real impact in your life. If they do, I’d love for you to share them with other moms or moms-to-be in your life. Many of you, like me, had a business before motherhood. Others started businesses after becoming moms, which is a completely different experience.

For me, I ran my business for five and a half years before becoming a mom. Over time, I built it into so many different things—my template shop, this podcast, my courses—so much happened before I had kids. Now, I’m a mom of two with baby number three on the way!

As I’ve grown my family, my journey as a mom and entrepreneur has evolved, and that’s what I want to talk about today. This episode is for business-owning women—including side hustlers—who are expecting or thinking about having a baby. If you're in your first year (or so) of motherhood, you’ll likely find this helpful too.

So whether you're trying to conceive, adopting, expecting, navigating life with a newborn, or even adding another baby to your family, this episode is for you. I hope it serves as both a pep talk and a guide with insights you may not have heard before.

A lot of what I’m sharing today is advice I wish someone had given me when I was a new mom. Now, as a mom of two (with a third on the way!), I want to share what I’ve learned—both from a mindset perspective and a practical, business-prep standpoint. I’ll cover ways to adjust your business for big changes, how to work fewer hours effectively, and so much more.

I truly hope this episode blesses you. I’ve poured so much thought and energy into it. Now, let’s get started!

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 304!

Like I mentioned, this episode is all about navigating motherhood when you already have a business. These are the things I wish someone had told me as a business-owning woman stepping into motherhood.

I have six key tips for you—most of them focused on your business, but some touching on motherhood in general. But before we dive in, let me set the stage with a little context.

I’m a mom to little ones—I haven’t yet experienced motherhood with elementary-age kids, middle schoolers, or teenagers. My oldest is almost three and a half, my second is 11 months old, and I’m currently pregnant with baby number three, due this summer. That means I’ll have a 16-month age gap between my second and third, and about a two-and-a-half-year gap between my first and second.

I also ran my business for about five and a half years before becoming a mom. So when I found out I was expecting, I had to figure out how to navigate this huge life change while continuing to run a business I had poured years of energy into.

These are the tips I wish someone had shared with me during that transition. So let’s dive in—no particular order, just real, practical advice to help you prepare for this exciting (and sometimes overwhelming) new chapter!

1. Don’t assume what you’ll want for your business until after you meet your baby

One of the most important things you can do during pregnancy is have honest conversations—with your spouse, significant other, or, if you’re a single parent, with your support system. Talk about what both of your work lives will look like once the baby arrives. How will your work change? How will your partner’s work change? How will you share responsibilities? The key is to have a plan—and to prepare to adjust that plan as needed.

Now, I’m not saying don’t make a plan. In fact, I highly encourage you to. But I can’t tell you what plan is right for your family because everyone’s situation is unique. Some of you might be single moms. Maybe your partner works long, inflexible hours. Maybe you work crazy hours in your business, or you’re juggling a 9-to-5 job and a side hustle. Or perhaps you’re transitioning into full-time stay-at-home motherhood for the first time.

No matter your situation, one thing I can tell you is this: Whatever plan you come up with now, your feelings about it may change once your baby is actually here. So go into it with flexibility and grace for yourself.

For example, you might plan to do full-time daycare, thinking, I’ll take a short maternity leave and then jump right back into work. But once your leave is up, you might realize you don’t want to send your baby to daycare full-time. Maybe you decide on part-time daycare or explore other childcare options instead.

Or maybe it’s the opposite. Maybe you initially think, I won’t need any childcare—I’ll just work during nap times. Then your baby arrives, and you quickly realize that’s not sustainable. You need real breaks, both for your own well-being and to keep your business running.

The point is—changing your mind is not failure. You can’t fully know what will work for you until you’re in it. And this applies to so many aspects of motherhood!

A plan might sound perfect on paper, but when you’re actually living it, you might realize it’s not the right fit. And that’s okay!

Be adaptable—not just in the newborn stage, but as your baby grows. Your needs will shift. Your baby’s schedule will change. If you have more children, your work-life balance will evolve again. Maybe what worked for you with one baby doesn’t work with two or three. Or maybe when your child stops napping or starts school, your approach shifts again.

Personally, I’ve found that before having kids, my seasons of work looked more like years. Now, as a mom, a season can be just a few months—like when a baby is on a certain nap schedule, isn’t eating solids yet, or is exclusively breastfeeding. Things change fast, and flexibility is key.

So, whatever you choose is okay. It doesn’t matter what other moms are doing, what your own mom did, or what you thought you would do. The best thing you can do is stay prayerful about what’s right for you and your family.

Be open to change. If something isn’t working, it’s okay to say, Hey, I thought I wanted this, but it’s not right for me anymore. Or, This worked great for the first six months, but now my baby’s needs have changed, and I need to adjust.

Adjusting doesn’t mean you were wrong before—it just means you didn’t have the lived experience yet, or your situation has evolved. So stay flexible, stay open to change, and most of all, give yourself grace.

2. Learn how to delegate (and let some things slide that you used to obsess over)

Moms make efficient business owners because they learn to cut out what doesn’t matter and delegate effectively. Motherhood will teach you this skill—if you allow it.

Since becoming a mom, I feel like I’ve become a better business owner, despite entering motherhood after business. Has it made business easier? No, it’s actually harder. But I’ve learned to focus on what truly matters in this season of life and in running my business. If you don’t embrace this shift, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the lack of time to obsess over details like before.

If you're preparing for maternity leave—whether you're pregnant or expecting to adopt—take time to look at your daily, weekly, and monthly tasks:

Identify unnecessary tasks: Things you do out of habit, not necessity.
Look for automation opportunities: Use tools you already have or invest in new ones.
Delegate tasks: Assign to existing team members or even consider hiring help. Becoming a mom may be the right time for your first independent contractor hire.
Increase efficiency: For tasks that can’t be eliminated, find ways to streamline them.

You may realize that your business doesn't require as much micromanagement as you once thought. When I was preparing for my first maternity leave four years ago, I went through this process very intensely. The moment I found out I was pregnant, I recognized that I needed help to take time off or reduce my workload.

At that time, we didn’t use outside childcare until my firstborn was 14 months old. My husband and I tag-teamed childcare while he was in graduate school. With my second child, things were different, and they will be again with my third.

During my first leave, I found things that:

A team member could take over.
Were honestly just a waste of time, so we could cut them.
Needed better systems in place.

Keeping a running list of things to evaluate. I like to use my phone for easy updates, and do this before the baby arrives so you have time to implement changes.

Here are a few real examples from my business:

Failed Payments – I run a digital product business, selling templates and courses. For years, I handled all failed payments myself—tracking issues, emailing customers, and following up. While this task is important, it didn’t need to be done by me. I delegated it to a team member who was already managing customer communication, and she still handles it today.

Podcast Show Notes – I used to write my own show notes for every podcast episode, even after having my first child. It wasn’t until my second pregnancy that I realized I could delegate this task. Since my blog writer, Kara, already had my outlines, it made sense for her to take over the show notes as well. Now, for this episode, she’ll use my eight-page outline to craft the notes, making my podcasting process much more efficient.

Tracking Sales Manually — I used to track every sale in my business manually. You may have heard me talk about this on the podcast before—I loved it and thought it was valuable to have that level of data. But it also took so much time and precision. Right before my second son, Ethan, was born, I cut it out completely—I didn’t delegate it, I just let it go. I realized that, in this season of life, I don’t have the capacity to track every single sale in that much detail.

These are just a few examples, but I hope they help you see the bigger picture. The key is to pay attention daily to what you’re doing in your business. Ask yourself:

Do I really need to be the one doing this?
How much time is this taking me?
Will I still have this time once the baby arrives?

It’s going to look different for everyone depending on your business, but my biggest tip is to start thinking about this for yourself while you're pregnant. Make it something you’re actively working on before maternity leave.

3. Plan for a longer maternity leave than you think you’ll want

As a business owner, you are your own boss, which means you have to give yourself time off—no one else will do it for you. Unlike a traditional employer who says, “Here’s your 12 weeks of maternity leave,” you have to structure and plan for it yourself.

So, my advice? Plan for more time off than you think you’ll want.

I can’t tell you how long that should be. Maybe you have a number in mind based on your first maternity leave, what your friends did, or the standard U.S. maternity leave. But whatever you’re thinking, set up your business in a way that allows you to take more time if you need it.

Why?

You may actually want or need more time than you expected. Birth and recovery can be unpredictable, and you may need extra time to heal or adjust to your baby’s needs. Or, you may simply love the newborn phase and realize you’re not ready to return yet.
Returning to work is often a slow process. It’s rarely a sudden shift from 100% leave to 100% back at work. Instead, it’s more gradual—maybe a nap-time work session here, a few hours while your partner watches the baby there. Planning extra time allows for that transition to happen naturally rather than feeling like you have to rush back.

In my own experience:

With my first son, Colin, I planned for a three-and-a-half-month maternity leave. But in reality, I took five and a half months before I fully came back. That didn’t mean I didn’t touch my business at all—I still ran my Black Friday sale and managed small things—but I wasn’t back in my office for a full workday until he was six months old.
With my second, Ethan, I took three and a half months off and worked right up until he was born. That worked better for me mentally, since I didn’t enjoy taking time off before the baby arrived. With my first, I had planned for two weeks off before my due date, and he ended up being born at 41 weeks! I quickly realized I didn’t enjoy “waiting” and ended up working on random projects just to keep myself busy.

Now, with my third baby, I’m planning another solid maternity leave. I don’t know exactly how long yet since I’m still early in pregnancy, but I want to give myself plenty of time.

I say all this because I don’t want you to assume that you’ll be fine with just three weeks off, only to find yourself overwhelmed and unable to step back when you realize you need more time.

Maybe you think:

“I love my business, so I’ll be excited to jump back in.”
“Newborns sleep a lot, so I’ll have time to work.”
“I saw someone else take only two weeks off, so I can too.”

But then you might find yourself locked into commitments—a client project, interviews, coaching calls—that you can’t push back, even though you want to.

So, think about how much time you believe you’ll need, discuss it with your spouse or support system, and then add a few more weeks. That extra time can be your gradual transition back into work.

Bonus Tip: Plan Time Off During Pregnancy

Don’t forget about taking breaks before the baby arrives!

For example, when you do your glucose test (around 30 weeks), that might be a good day to take off work completely. Go do the test, then treat yourself—grab lunch with a friend, get a pedicure, do something relaxing.

You’ll also have days where you just need to rest—maybe due to morning sickness, exhaustion, or just the general strain of pregnancy. Be gracious with yourself.

Growing a baby is huge work—it’s incredible how our bodies do this! If all you did today was grow that baby, you’ve done enough. And especially if you have other kids, pregnancy can be physically exhausting.

So, don’t push yourself too hard. Plan for rest, and give yourself the space to take breaks when you need them.

4. It’s ok to scale your business back, quit your business, or pause it for a season

This might be my favorite tip of all: It is okay to scale your business back, pause it for a season, or even quit altogether if that’s what makes sense for you and your family.

Quitting often gets a bad rap in the business world. We hear messages like:

“Never quit your business.”
“Always chase your dreams.”
“Stick with it no matter what.”

But I don’t agree with that mindset, and I never have. I’ve talked about this many times on the podcast—quitting, pausing, or shifting your business is actually a power move when it aligns with your life and family.

Your seasons of life will change, and your business can change with them.

The Problem with the “Hustle No Matter What” Mentality

What frustrates me is that society tells us it’s okay to change our work for any reason—except for our family.

You might hear things like:

“If you step back from your business for your kids, you’re not empowering women.”
“You’ll lose yourself in motherhood.”
“You won’t have anything for yourself.”
“You should be contributing financially.”
“You’ll get bored staying home.”
“What will you do all day if you’re home with your kids?”
“Daycare exists for a reason—you should use it.”

I’ve heard it all. And maybe you’ve heard these messages too.

But I want to tell you something different: It is more than okay to shift your business for your family. It is a great reason to change things, simply because it makes sense for you in this season.

Your Career is a Long Game

I also want to remind you that your career is not a race.

With how quickly business and technology move, it can feel like you have to hit every milestone right now—the next income goal, follower count, email list number, or pricing increase. But you actually have so many years of working life ahead of you.

If you’re in your 30s (or older or younger), and you have small children, just think about how many more decades you have to work.

Your business goals can take longer. You can pause a goal for a season.

So if you feel called to scale back right now—whether it’s a small part of your business or the entire thing—try it. Trust God's guidance. Nothing is permanent.

Pausing something doesn’t mean quitting forever.
Even quitting your current business doesn’t mean quitting business forever.

I truly believe you will never regret spending more time with your children.

My Personal Experience with Slowing Down

I’ve found that some days, playing the role of a stay-at-home mom is actually harder than running my business.

Shoutout to all the stay-at-home moms—taking care of small children is hard work. Sitting here recording this podcast in my quiet office is much easier in comparison.

But I never regret investing time in my family. I love motherhood. It fulfills me in a way that nothing else does. It’s a high calling that I’m honored to step into, even when it means shifting my business.

Sometimes that means scaling back, pausing, or even quitting—and that’s okay.

Real-Life Example: My Grandmother’s Career

A lot of the women we admire professionally didn’t follow a straight career path—we just see where they ended up.

For example, my grandmother—my dad’s mom—had an extremely accomplished career. She was the head buyer for Kirkland’s Home Store and played a huge role in growing the company. She was also an interior designer and teacher and made a great income throughout her career.

But when I visited her last year, I asked, “Were you working in those roles when your kids were little?”

And she said, “No, honey. I was a stay-at-home mom for years.”

That surprised me because I’ve always thought of her as a career woman. But when she had her four kids—who were all close in age—she stayed home.

Her career came later—and she still built something incredible.

This was such a great reminder for me that careers are a long game.

You might look at someone’s success and assume they were grinding non-stop for decades—but you don’t see the seasons where they stepped back.

It’s Okay to Step Back—And I’m Doing It Too

I’m actually making changes in my own business right now with baby number three on the way. I’ll be talking about those details in a podcast episode soon.

But for now, I just want to encourage you:

It’s okay to scale your business back to be with your kids more.
It’s okay to quit for a season—or forever—if that’s what makes sense for your family.

And if you feel that calling, follow it. Your business will always be there, but your kids will only be little for so long.

5. Motherhood is really fulfilling. And it’s really hard. It can be both. Hard isn’t the same as bad.

Motherhood is incredibly fulfilling, and it’s also really hard. It can be both at the same time. And hard does not mean bad.

This is something that’s not talked about enough. You can absolutely love being a mom, feel like it’s everything you ever wanted, and still find it exhausting. You can be fulfilled and wish for a break. You can be completely in love with your baby and want them to stop crying so you can get some sleep.

Maybe you wish potty training didn’t result in a mess all over the floor. Or that you could just eat dinner in peace without making sure everyone else is eating theirs. Or that you could schedule a work meeting without worrying about whether nap time will actually happen.

Parenthood is hard—it’s a job like no other. And in my opinion, it’s the hardest job and the most fulfilling work you can do.

Society Doesn’t Always Value Parenthood

Parenting gets a bad rap sometimes. It’s sacrificial, and we live in a world that doesn’t always value kids—or parents—enough. And when you combine all of that, it can feel like a challenging road to navigate.

And I believe that having your first baby is the biggest adjustment of all.

Going from zero to one was a bigger shock for me than going from one to two kids. Now I’m about to go from two to three, so we’ll see how that feels! But at least for us, zero to one completely rocked our world—from work, to life, to free time, to sleep.

I remember feeling, “I’ll never do XYZ again.” And at the time, it felt true. But looking back, those thoughts weren’t actually accurate. Yes, some things do change forever, but many things are just different for a season.

If you ever find yourself missing a part of your life before kids, that does not mean you don’t love your baby or that you regret becoming a mom. It just means you’ve taken on something incredibly hard.

Motherhood is so fulfilling, but it’s also exhausting. And it’s okay to acknowledge both.

My Own Experience With a Newborn

I remember a moment early in motherhood when Colin was just a few weeks old.

Adam was out of town on a trip, and my mother-in-law was visiting to help me out. Colin was struggling with breastfeeding, had colic, and sleep was rough—it was just a lot.

That night, a new episode of Law & Order: SVU was airing. I had always loved watching new episodes as they came out—it was my thing. Before having a baby, I could sit down, grab a snack, and just enjoy it, no problem.

But that night, it felt like watching a TV show was an ordeal.

Colin wasn’t ready for bed yet—newborns often stay up late with their parents. He was fussy, and my mother-in-law sweetly encouraged me, “Elizabeth, just sit down, relax, and enjoy your LaCroix. I’ll hold him.”

So I sat down, but I couldn’t relax. I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, I’m never going to just watch TV normally again.” It felt so overwhelming and permanent in that moment.

But of course, that wasn’t true. Just a couple of days ago, I sat down after the kids were asleep, watched a new episode of Law & Order: SVU, and enjoyed some dessert—totally uninterrupted.

That night with Colin felt so long, but in hindsight, it was just a season.

Hard is Not the Same as Bad

Motherhood is both fulfilling and hard, and one does not cancel out the other.

So when you have those hard moments—when you feel exhausted, frustrated, or overwhelmed—it doesn’t mean you’re failing as a mom. It doesn’t mean motherhood is bad. It just means it’s a really hard job.

Think about your business. There are probably parts of it you don’t like, but that doesn’t mean your business is bad—it just means there are hard aspects to running a business. Motherhood is the same way.

So if you’re in a tough moment right now, just remember:

It’s hard, but it’s worth it.
This season won’t last forever.
You are doing an incredible job.

And above all, hard does not mean bad.

6. You can do this. You can do the motherhood and business thing if you want to.

I want to close this episode with encouragement: You can do this.

You can run a business and be a mom if that’s what you want to do. If you’re going to work and not stay home 100% with your kids, I truly believe that owning a business is one of the best jobs you can have as a mother.

I feel so much gratitude every single day that I built this business and that I can make money from home while being with my kids—even with minimal childcare.

Now, I’m not going to pretend to be one of those people you see in reels or on TikTok saying they work no hours, only from their phone, while making a full-time income as a stay-at-home mom. That’s not my reality.

Right now, as I record this, both of my kids are in paid childcare. But I’m still grateful because I get to do this from home, and throughout the day, I can go downstairs a hundred times to see my baby. That flexibility is a privilege, but it’s also something you can work toward and structure your business to allow for.

Your business is a gift. I believe we should see it that way.

You Are In Charge—Not Your Clients, Not Your Calendar

One of the biggest advantages of running your own business is that you have control.

You can scale it up or down based on your family’s needs.
You can work from home or on the go.
You can choose your maternity leave length instead of having an employer decide for you.
You can set your own work hours around your kids’ schedules.

But here’s the thing—you have to make those decisions.

Don’t let your clients, calendar, or customers dictate how you run your business—especially during pregnancy and postpartum. People are often way more understanding than you think.

I’ve seen too many business owners assume, “My clients won’t understand me taking time off for a baby.” So they don’t take the time. They try to keep their business running as if they aren’t a mom, as if they didn’t just have a baby.

You don’t have to do that.

And if a client isn’t gracious about you taking maternity leave? They’re probably not the kind of client you want to work with anyway.

Be a Better Boss to Yourself

You wouldn’t want to work for someone who never gave you breaks, right? So don’t be that kind of boss to yourself.

Take the half-day for your glucose test.
Take a full day off to rest.
Take naps when you need them.
Spend less time on a project if it means you get to rest.
Give yourself a real maternity leave—and plan it well.

You are in charge—not your clients, not your team, not your calendar.

Define Your Own “It”

You can do this—but only you can define what “this” is.

Whatever your version of success looks like, you can do it. And that definition might change over time—and that’s okay.

Your motherhood and business journey will not look like mine.
It won’t look like that business owner you follow on Instagram who seems to have it all together.
It won’t look exactly like your mom’s, your mother-in-law’s, your friend’s, or anyone else’s.

Your journey is your own.

Give Yourself Time to Learn

Something else I want to encourage you with: Motherhood is a skill—and new skills take time to learn.

Think about it:

When you first got pregnant, you didn’t know what prenatals to take.
You didn’t know what was happening at each stage of pregnancy.
You might not have known much about birth or postpartum.

You had to learn—and learning takes time.

It’s the same with motherhood and business.

I actually saw a note in my Hosanna Revival Five-Year Prayer Journal today from January 2022. At the time, Colin was five months old, we had just moved into our new house, and I was trying to work more again.

In that journal entry, I prayed, “I’m having a hard time moving between mom stuff and work stuff, and I feel like I can’t do both well.”

I remember that season so clearly. I’d get in the zone with my business, and then suddenly it was time to nurse or put him down for a nap. It felt impossible to juggle both.

But over time, I learned how to manage it. It became a skill I developed.

And now, with two kids, I’m learning the skill all over again—because it looks different. And soon, with three kids, I’ll be learning it again in a brand-new way.

It’s all a process. It’s all learning. And that’s okay.

So be gracious with yourself. You are growing and learning just as much as your kids are.

6 Tips for Running a Business While Becoming a Mom

Before we wrap up, let’s quickly review all six tips. As I read them, think about which one stood out to you—maybe one that you can take action on today.

Don’t assume what you’ll want for your business until after you meet your baby.
- Make a plan, but stay flexible. You might think you want one thing, but once the baby is here, your desires could shift.
Learn how to delegate and let some things go.
- Motherhood can actually make you a better business owner by teaching you how to be more strategic with your time.
Plan for a longer maternity leave than you think you’ll want.
- Give yourself the option to take more time if you need it, because adjusting to motherhood is a big transition.
It’s okay to scale back, pause, or even quit your business if that’s what makes sense for your family.
- Be prayerful about it, talk it over with your spouse, and know that nothing is permanent—you can always shift again later.
Motherhood is both fulfilling and hard—and hard doesn’t mean bad.
- It’s okay to miss parts of your old life while also loving your baby. It’s okay to find motherhood challenging while also finding it deeply fulfilling.
You can do this.
- Define what “this” looks like for you in this season. Know that it will change over time, and that’s okay.

I hope this episode encourages you! Motherhood and business together is a learning process, and you’re going to grow so much along the way. You can do this!

Links Mentioned:

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

Cranberry Brie Appetizer Recipe

The post How to Navigate Becoming a Mom When You Already Have a Business You Love appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

Stay Organized, Keep it Simple, and Make It FUN — How to Plan for Christmas to Avoid the Overwhelm

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 12 minutes

All right, let’s talk about holiday organization—keeping your sanity, staying organized, making the holidays fun, enjoyable, and filled with good memories. Basically, how you can plan for this Christmas season and avoid overwhelm.

This is a continuation of last week’s Christmas episode. If you missed that one, no worries! You don’t need it to understand this episode, but I’d still recommend checking it out. In that one, I talked about holiday tradition ideas for your family.

In this episode, we’re talking about staying organized with things like gift-giving, parties, hosting, and all the different things that happen during the holiday season. This applies whether you have kids or not. These are things I’ve learned over the years—being married, buying gifts for in-laws, parents, and more.

I’ve also grown as a mom, dealing with teacher gifts and other holiday responsibilities. Over the years, I’ve noticed how much more there is to manage, and these are tips that I think will help you, no matter your season of life, to make Christmas and the holiday season more enjoyable and restful.

So let’s get to it!

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 297!

Two years ago, I recorded my very first Christmas episode, and it was such a fun experience—and you all really loved it! Last year, I re-aired that same episode instead of creating a new one. But this year, I’m excited to bring you a brand-new Christmas episode. If you’d like to check out the episode from two years ago, here it is. That one covers different topics, including practical tips for taking time off from your business during the holiday season, and traditions through the lens of having even younger kids—Colin was only about a year old back then.

Now, let’s dive into the traditions! I’ve got seven to share with you today. One of them has a lot of subpoints, but most are big-picture ideas, with a focus on how to bring Jesus more into your holiday season. Let’s get started!

1. Create a holiday note that you add to each year and reopen when the season starts.

Let me explain. This might sound confusing at first, but it’s something I started doing two years ago, and it’s been a game-changer. I keep a Google Doc in my Google Drive, in a folder with other family-related documents. In this document, I add notes for myself about Christmas each year.

Here’s how I keep track of it: I’ve added it as a recurring event in my Apple calendar. Every year, on November 1st, it reminds me to review the document. The calendar event is called something like “Review December Doc” or “Review Holiday Doc,” and it includes a direct link to the file in the notes section.

This system works so well for me that I made a similar document for the fall season, since the Thanksgiving and Christmas one has been so helpful. You could adapt this idea for any season—summer, spring, or whatever suits you.

For the past two years, this document has covered everything from Thanksgiving through the end of the year. It’s just a collection of notes I’ve added each year. I’d recommend starting your own document after this Christmas season ends. It takes about 15 minutes to create, and I promise, your future self will thank you.

When you open it next year, you’ll find all kinds of helpful notes that you would’ve otherwise forgotten about. If you’re still thinking about fall right now, you could even make a fall version while it’s fresh in your mind.

Here’s an example of what I include:

Send Christmas cards earlier than you think. It takes a long time to get them shipped, even when you pay extra for fast turnaround.
Go smaller. Last year, ours were accidentally giant. Smaller would work better.
Buy stamps early. USPS takes forever to mail stamps ordered online.

That’s it—just a few simple notes, but they make such a difference.

I also includes notes about:

Timing the Christmas meal.
Picking a Christmas church service that works with family visiting.
Hosting Christmas at our house.
Light shows we like to attend, including when to go.
Social obligations—I wrote a big note for myself last year that I overbooked in December and didn’t want to repeat that.

This system has made planning so much smoother. You could even use a note on your phone if you want something quick and easy to add to anytime. Personally, I prefer sitting down at my computer to type everything out.

The key is to keep building on the same document every year. For example, this year would be your 2024 note, next year 2025, and so on. Over time, it becomes an invaluable resource for making each holiday season easier and more enjoyable.

So that’s my first and biggest tip: Make a holiday document to help your future self. It’s a game-changer!

2. Use Babylist for your family/kids wish list

I’ve actually been doing this for years—even before Babylist offered it as an official feature. Back when I was pregnant with Colin, I made a Christmas wish list for Adam and me on Babylist, in addition to my baby registry. So it was like two separate lists. Now, Babylist has expanded, and you can create registries for Christmas, birthdays, or an expected baby. It’s really cool and completely free to use.

What I love about Babylist is how versatile it is. You can make lists for gifts from a variety of stores, not just Amazon. In the past, I’ve seen people create documents where they link to gift ideas or type out suggestions for family members. But what makes Babylist better is that it allows people to mark items as purchased so you don’t get duplicates. You can also write descriptions about why an item would make a great gift or even mark certain items as “most wanted.”

Here’s what works well for us: we make one list for our whole family and share it via a single link. It’s super easy to send, and my in-laws, my mom, and my sister all really appreciate having it. They don’t have to guess what to get for Colin, Ethan, or even us. Everyone else in my family also does Christmas wish lists—most of them use Amazon, but we stick with Babylist.

Now, if your family dynamic is different and some people might be offended by a wish list, this might not work for you. But if your family asks, “What do the kids want? What do you want?” This is a really great option.

On our Babylist, I organize the categories not by item type (like toys or books, which is the default), but by family member. So our list has sections like Colin, Elizabeth, Ethan, Adam, Whole Family, and Both Kids. This setup makes it super easy for grandparents or other relatives to see what they might want to gift and to claim items so we don’t get duplicates.

Plus, what’s great about Babylist is that it’s flexible. If you’re someone who prefers experience-based gifts over physical ones, you can add anything with a URL. For example, you could include a zoo membership or tickets to an event. Literally anything with a link can go on the list.

I also have the Babylist app on my phone, so whenever I think of a gift idea for the kids, myself, or Adam, I can add it directly to the list. It’s so convenient and keeps everything organized!

3. Keep a document to track your gift-buying

For me, I like to use the notes app on my phone for this. I create a note titled something like “Christmas 2024 Gift Giving,” and under that, I list each person’s name with a bullet point list ready to go beneath their name.

Here’s how I use it: First, I jot down gift ideas as they come to me. If I think, “Oh, this person would really enjoy this,” I add it to their section. My family uses wish lists a lot, so I can also refer to those for ideas.

When I purchase a gift, I update the document to include what I bought and how much I spent. This helps me keep track of the total amount I’m spending per person and how many gifts I’ve gotten.

In years when I didn’t do this, I ran into problems. When you buy gifts gradually over time, it’s easy to forget what you’ve already purchased. You might end up overspending on some people or realizing too late that you underspent on others.

For example, you might find yourself in a situation where you only got someone a small $10 gift when you meant to spend more, or you might realize that you bought one family member way more than another—like getting your mother-in-law ten gifts and your father-in-law just one.

Everyone handles gift-giving differently. In our family, we buy gifts for everyone but try to keep the spending reasonable and not excessive. This list helps me make sure that we stay on track with what we’re spending and that everyone is covered equally.

4. Do the same gift for teachers or other people who help in your life every year

I’m all about simplifying life by figuring out what works and sticking with it, especially for recurring gifts like those for teachers, lawn care providers, house cleaners, mail carriers, tenants (if you’re in real estate), or anyone else you give gifts to during the holidays. You don’t need to do this for everyone, but for the people you consistently give to, deciding on one go-to gift each year makes things so much easier.

It might take some trial and error to figure out your go-to gift, and it’s okay if it changes over time—like as your kids grow or your needs evolve. But once you find something that works, stick to it. It eliminates one of the many decisions you have to make during the holidays, which is such a relief.

I got this idea from the book The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi. It’s literally the first principle in her book: “Decide Once.”

I’m going to read a quick excerpt from it to explain the concept.

The easiest way to give your brain a break

The research on this is varied and probably hard to articulate anyway, but we make a lot of decisions—like a lot. Constant decision making is one of the reasons you don't have energy for the things that matter to you. By discovering a few opportunities to decide once, and then never again, you give your brain more room to play. You might think that making a preemptive decision is robotic, but automating makes you a robot only if you automate everything. Making one-time decisions about what doesn't matter, so you have brain space for what does, is the lazy genius way and you'll experience the benefits immediately.

And then in another part of this chapter, she goes on to say:

A single intentional decision relieves your brain of effort, freeing you to think about what matters to you instead of living in a cycle of choosing this and that over and over again. The possibilities are endless, but you don't need endless. Losing your grip on making 37 decisions by the end of this chapter, 36 of which you'll forget by tomorrow. Simply look for one idea that works for right now.

And then she gives you a lot of applications and she goes through examples of all of them. But one is deciding on gifts once, and she talks about gifts for teachers, birthday gifts for kids, friends, gifts for family members, wedding and baby shower gifts, and then all kinds of other things.

How I’ve Done This

For us, here’s how I’ve personally applied it: Our go-to gift for teachers and others is homemade sourdough bread and butter from a friend’s sourdough business. Depending on the recipient, we might also include a gift card. This has been our gift for teachers, local real estate tenants, and a few other people in our lives.

Once you figure out what works for you, make it a recurring to-do item each year—plan to buy or prepare the gift at the right time, and distribute it to everyone on your list.

You might try something this year and realize, “Okay, that didn’t work as well as I hoped.” That’s totally fine. Adjust for next year. The goal is to decide once and create a consistent gift-giving plan for the people you’re gifting during Christmas.

For us, sourdough bread has been a great solution—it’s thoughtful, supports my friend’s business, and is something I personally enjoy having at home too. It’s beautifully packaged, making it feel special. For some recipients, we add gift cards as needed to round it out.

Whether you choose one universal gift or tailor it slightly for different people, this approach simplifies the decision-making process, reduces stress, and makes holiday planning much easier.

5. Have go-to items that you make for holiday events every year to keep things simple.

This tip takes the "decide once” principle and applies it to something else: having go-to items that you make for all your holiday events each year to keep things simple. Similar to tip number four, this might take a few years or a few events to figure out, but it’s worth it to find what you, your guests, and your party attendees enjoy.

We all have holiday parties where we need to cook or bring something. A few years ago, I realized I was stressing myself out trying to find new recipes every year. I’d be on Pinterest, looking up cookie or appetizer recipes, trying something new every time. Often, I didn’t even like what I ended up making or spent so much time on it only for it to flop.

So now, I have one standard dish I make for all parties where I need to bring something—and it’s always a hit. I’m still working on my go-to Christmas dessert or cookie recipe, but when it comes to appetizers, I’ve found my staple. Last year, I made this recipe at least three, maybe four times in December. It became my go-to for Christmas parties, and people raved about it. At Adam’s work Christmas party, someone even told me it was the best appetizer they’d ever had.

It’s a cranberry jalapeño cream cheese dip served with Ritz crackers. The base is whipped cream cheese, and the topping is a sugared cranberry and jalapeño mix. It sounds like a strange combination, but it’s so good. It’s not hard to make, and people love it. Plus, it can be made ahead of time because it needs to set in the fridge, so you don’t have to worry about making it right before the party.

I made it on repeat last year, and I’ll be doing the same this year.

In addition to that, I also have two go-to items we make every Christmas morning as part of our tradition. It took me a few years to figure out what I wanted these special items to be. For a couple of Christmas mornings in a row, I tried different things to establish a tradition—this was even before we had kids. I tested a few breakfast casseroles, but none of them were great. One was hash-brown based, and the other was potato-based, but they were just unimpressive.

After two or three years of experimenting, I found my home-run dish. It’s a crescent roll breakfast casserole with a top and bottom crust, sausage, eggs, and cheese. It’s easy to make, can be prepped the night before, and my whole family loves it. Colin has enjoyed it, and we’ll see if Ethan likes it this year as a baby.

The other thing I make is a “done up cinnamon roll” recipe that’s so good. It’s become a tradition for both Christmas and Easter. But the breakfast casserole is reserved just for Christmas, and it’s something I look forward to every year.

So that’s number five: Have go-to items that you make for your Christmas events to keep it simple.

6. Buy things early (especially if they often run out before Christmas arrives!)

Okay, number six: Buy the things early that you can freeze and that often run out before Christmas arrives. This is just a simple thing to add to your calendar—whether it's the first week of December, the second week, or whenever you’re listening to this.

For example, we do this with the cinnamon rolls I mentioned earlier—the done-up cinnamon roll recipe we make. Those tend to run out, and if I wait until the week of Christmas, I’m running around to Publix, Kroger, and all the places trying to find them. So instead, I’ve learned to start early. I literally add them to my Instacart order every week until I manage to get some. It took me two weeks for them to be in stock this year, but now I have them in the freezer, ready to go.

I also do this with the frozen breakfast turkey sausage I use for our Christmas breakfast casserole. Since it’s something that freezes well, I can grab it early and not worry about it being out of stock later. This ties into my earlier point about having go-to recipes and preparing in advance.

So, this tip is about adding a reminder to your calendar to get these kinds of items early. It saves you from the stress of last-minute shopping and ensures everything is ready to go when you need it.

7. Have a gift wrapping night and do ALL the gifts at once

Number seven: Have a gift-wrapping night and do all your wrapping at once. This is something I’ve figured out after trying different approaches over the years. One method some people prefer is to wrap gifts as they buy them and put them under the tree. If you enjoy seeing presents under the tree all December, definitely stick with that. But for me, I don’t really care about having gifts under the tree early, and I’ve found that waiting to wrap everything at once saves a ton of time and energy.

By doing it all at once, you avoid forgetting what you’ve already bought because everything is still unwrapped and visible. Here’s what I do: as I shop, I put all the Christmas gifts in our guest room closet. That’s also where I keep all the wrapping supplies—paper, bows, bags, tape, everything. Then I set a date close to Christmas and plan a night to wrap everything. For us, it’s usually a weeknight like a Wednesday, after the kids are asleep.

Having a specific wrapping night allows me to get Adam involved. If I wrapped sporadically, I wouldn’t realistically have him help every time. And let’s be real—gift wrapping and organizing for holidays often fall to women or moms. This method makes it a shared task. Last year, we turned on a Christmas movie, sat on the floor with all the wrapping supplies, and wrapped everything together. It was fun, relaxing, and nice to get it all done in one go.

This approach also means I only have to pull out the wrapping supplies once, which simplifies things. It’s a personal preference, but I think it’s worth deciding what works best for you. And it’s one less decision to make during the busy month of December.

You can decide, “I’m wrapping all my gifts on December 20th,” or whatever day works for you. Then as gifts come in, you just store them in your designated spot without stressing about getting them wrapped right away.

Links Mentioned:

Try Babylist

Read The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi

"Done Up" Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls

Breakfast Casserole Recipe

Not sure which template is right for you? Take the quiz!

The post Stay Organized, Keep it Simple, and Make It FUN — How to Plan for Christmas to Avoid the Overwhelm appeared first on Elizabeth McCravy.

Daily Business Routines & Habits That Help Me Manage My Business Well as a Busy Mom

Elizabeth McCravy — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Reading Time: 14 minutes

Routines, habits, focus, time management—all of these things are such a key to running a successful business. And I've got plenty of habits that I've developed over nine years in business that contribute to my business doing well. Over the past 9 years, I’ve gone from someone who worked with Friends in the background on TV in the first months of my business to someone who now really dials in what I'm working on.

I batch tasks well and I get what I used to get done in a week, done in two days. So in this episode, I just want to explore with you six different kinds of routines, habits, and just ways of running my business that help me manage my business really well that you can carry on into your own life and apply it to your business as well. So let's dive into it.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE NOW:

Subscribe & download the episode to your device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | iHeartRadio

Search for episode 295!

If you're listening to this episode live, I just want to let you know that my Black Friday sale is happening right now. I’m not actually focusing on the sale in this episode because I imagined that you might be in travel mode, family mode, or hosting mode as you celebrate Thanksgiving. So, I thought you might enjoy a simpler, more lifestyle-focused episode this week. But if you're interested in details about the sale, you can find all the information here. The sale is fantastic and runs through December 3rd, make sure to check it out!

Now, let's dive into the content of this episode, which I think will be a fun one. To give you a bit of context as we start, I want to share where I am in my current season of life. My hope is that by knowing where I am, you can take what resonates and apply it to your own life, recognizing that your situation, experiences, and priorities are probably quite different from mine.

As I navigate life as a parent while running my business, I’ve noticed that my goals and routines are constantly changing. It used to feel like things changed on a yearly basis, but now it feels like they’re shifting every few months. Maybe you can relate to that feeling. For example, at the time of this recording, I typically have two full workdays each week, plus another workday that’s spread across two half-days. Beyond that, I’m primarily with my kids, which is a huge priority for me in this season. I have two young boys—an eight-month-old (I still can’t believe he’s already eight months!) and a three-year-old.

Just for a bit of background, I’ve been running my business for a long time, since before I became a mom, about nine years ago. A lot of what helped me succeed back then, when I had fewer responsibilities, still works well for me now. When I reviewed this list, I realized that many strategies I started when life was simpler continue to help me run my business effectively, even as a busy mom.

So in this episode, I'm sharing some of the practices that are working for me right now, in this season, as well as in past seasons of life.

1. I Know What I’m Going to Work on That Day Before I Sit Down to Work!

Since I only have two days with childcare each week to focus on my business, I have to be extremely strategic with my time. This approach is something I’ve developed over the years, and I genuinely think I’ve become more productive since becoming a mom. It’s not always easy to manage, but I’ve had to learn how to make the most of my time because I’m fitting what used to be five days of work into just two. How well I plan each day depends on what’s going on, so I kind of play it by ear in terms of detail. I’ll explain three different ways I do this, and feel free to take any ideas that work for you.

How detailed my planning gets depends on if I’m in a busy season or not and what’s happening that particular day. For a while, I planned out every hour of my week on a digital calendar, Monday through Friday, sometimes even weekends. Longtime listeners might remember me talking about this, especially in episode 46, which was super popular. That method worked well back then, but it doesn’t fit as well with young kids and limited childcare. I’m in a different season of life now. However, I sometimes still do it on a day-by-day basis.

For instance, today, I actually used this method to plan my entire workday, hour by hour. I left a few spots blank to leave the buffer room. Our nanny is here from 10:00 to 4:30, and my older son is at preschool, so I planned out Sunday afternoon during the kids’ overlapping nap. Right now, Ethan naps twice a day, and Colin naps once, and their second nap overlaps for about an hour. I used that time to plan out today, Wednesday, and a few specific things for Tuesday and Thursday. So far, I’ve mostly stuck to my schedule today, which is great!

Last week, though, I planned out Monday on Sunday but quickly had to adjust. My husband, Adam, came down with food poisoning and was home sick. I had to take my preschooler, Colin, to school with my baby, and we ended up getting there late. Our nanny was late too, and I spent much of the day taking care of Adam while also making sure he stayed away from the nanny so she wouldn’t get sick.

My workday started an hour later and had more interruptions than usual, ending earlier than planned. That day was very different from my original schedule, and some tasks had to be pushed to another day. When I do this more intense planning, I leave blank slots of 15–30 minutes to account for these kinds of interruptions, breaks, or if a task takes longer than expected. I plan for the schedule not to work out perfectly, which helps me realistically see how much I can fit in a day. This lets me really maximize my two full workdays.

So that’s the way I prefer to do it, map things out on a digital calendar, but it doesn’t always work for me depending on the season. Here are the three ways (one I just talked about and two more that I use often) toI plan each workday:

Digital Calendar: This method is exactly what I’ve talked about so far—scheduling tasks on a digital calendar and it is my preferred option when I can.
Physical Planner: I use the Full Focus Planner, where I list my tasks and sometimes add calendar notes.
Todoist App: For a simpler approach, I use Todoist, a free app available across devices, which I’ve used for years. My husband uses it for his entire project management system.

These options might sound like a lot, but I change my planning approach depending on the day or season. When my youngest was four months old, and I was working around his frequent breaks, a strict schedule would have felt silly and unnecessary. Instead, I just made a simple list using Todoist, adding tasks to work on when I had a bit of time.

The key is to adapt your planning to your season and day-to-day needs. It doesn’t have to be rigid; instead, it can be flexible to fit your situation. The main takeaway here is that knowing what I’ll work on each day before I start has been a huge help for making the most of my limited work time.

2. I Work On What Sounds Exciting to Me (When Possible)

The second routine that really helps me manage my business well is working on tasks that feel exciting whenever possible. So often, business is framed as a constant hustle and grind, where you're supposed to just toughen up and push through tasks whether you like them or not. It can seem like that’s the only way to succeed. But for me, I want to truly enjoy my business—and I do! Of course, there are plenty of things I have to do that I don’t necessarily love, but there are also many things I genuinely enjoy, like recording this podcast or speaking at conferences. I just spoke at a Showit conference last month, and I loved that speaking engagement. I also enjoy creating social media content, though a lot of that depends on when I’m in the mood for it.

A big part of what I do with this is looking at what needs to be done and, when possible, following my creative intuition on when to do each task. I know this sounds like it might contradict my first point about structured planning, but I actually find they work together. This approach is really about planning around my energy for the week and each day.

For example, if I know I need to record two podcast episodes and also spend time strategizing for my Black Friday plans, I try to tackle each task when it feels right. If I'm in the mood to record a podcast episode, I’ll go ahead with it. But if I’m feeling tired or low-energy, and I know I won't be able to bring my best to an episode, I’ll try to move it to another day.

Of course, this isn’t always possible when there are deadlines beyond my control, like client projects or presentations with fixed due dates. For instance, my presentation for the Spark conference had a set deadline, so I had to work on it regardless of my mood. But whenever I can, I try to reorder my tasks to work on things I feel up for at the moment, or I hold my plans loosely.

Even today, as I record this episode, it’s 1:30 on a Monday afternoon. I had planned for this time slot with a “record podcast?” note on my calendar because I wasn’t sure if I’d feel ready. But as the time approached, I felt good about it. I have a meeting at 2:30 and nothing super pressing at the moment, so I decided to go for it. I’d also left an option to record on Wednesday, just in case.

I think this approach could be helpful for you, too, as you consider managing your own business. Working on tasks when you feel inspired or excited about them can help you show up better and produce higher-quality work.

3. I Know When I’m Testing if Something Is a “Good Use of My Time” and When I Decide It’s Not, I Stop Doing It.

The third thing that’s really important for growing my business is knowing when a task or project I’m testing is a good use of my time—and stopping it if it’s not. As I mentioned, I work with very limited time, given my current season of life. There are countless things I could be doing in my business that might help it grow—like experimenting with new marketing strategies or creating additional products. But it’s all about knowing my priorities. Right now, I choose to prioritize time at home with my kids while they’re little. That doesn’t mean this choice is right for everyone, but it is right for me, right now.

When I consider a new task or strategy, I ask myself, Is this a good use of my time for my business in this season? This question is really powerful because it removes the pressure of thinking, "I should be doing this" or "This works for others, so I should do it too." What works well for one person or business doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for my business in this season of life.

For example, let’s say you’ve been thinking about creating a course. Maybe you feel like you could do well with it, and you see others launching courses successfully. But just because it’s a good idea doesn’t mean it’s the right idea for you right now. That’s a big part of my approach—just because something is good doesn’t mean it’s right for me, my business, or my audience right now.

Since my business runs lean, whenever I try something new, I track its return on investment (ROI) closely, rather than assuming it’ll be worth it just because it’s supposed to be. Just because it’s valuable to someone else doesn’t mean it’s valuable for my audience, offers, or life stage. When I see that something isn’t worth it, I cut it. This helps me focus on what truly makes sense for my family, my life, my business, that particular day or week, and then let go of the rest.

For example, some businesses intentionally choose not to be on Instagram. They’re not saying that Instagram is bad; they’re simply choosing not to prioritize it. Similarly, if Instagram makes sense for your business, then prioritize it. It’s all about what’s best for your unique business.

Another way to put this is understanding my business’s unique needs and my life’s unique circumstances, rather than following a cookie-cutter approach. Instead of doing something just because it’s a "good thing," I always ask, Does this make sense for my life? For my time? Is it worth it to me? Do I enjoy this?

As we head toward the new year, it’s a perfect time to evaluate what you’re doing in your business. What are you spending your time on? Are there things you want to add or remove? Asking these questions can help you build a successful and sustainable business tailored to your life and priorities.

4. I Pray About My Business

The fourth routine that really helps me manage my business is praying about it—and, honestly, just praying about life in general. Since we're focusing on business here, I’ll emphasize that I spend a lot of time talking to God specifically about my business. This isn't always a formal prayer time where I sit down with my Bible; rather, it's more of an ongoing conversation with God, where I talk to Him about my business, ask for His guidance, and pray for wisdom in my decisions.

This practice has been especially meaningful for me in 2024, a year when I’ve made several behind-the-scenes pivots in my business after having another child. Some of these changes won’t even be visible until 2025. But staying faith-focused and asking God for guidance is something I truly believe has been pivotal to my business's success.

If you’re thinking about incorporating prayer into your business, remember that it doesn’t have to be a perfectly quiet morning routine at 5:00 AM, with your coffee and a lit candle. While that sounds wonderful, it's just not realistic for me right now. Both of my kids wake up early—especially with the recent daylight savings change—and I’m still getting up at night with my eight-month-old. My kids are my alarm clock; I don’t even remember the last time I set an actual alarm.

While I’d love to wake up at 5:00 AM to have an hour of peace before the day begins, it’s just not my current reality. I know I could set my alarm earlier, but right now, I’d rather prioritize sleep. I’m okay with this season of life, and I think it’s important to have realistic expectations about your spiritual routine.

For now, my morning routine looks different, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have an active prayer life. I appreciate what the team at Risen Motherhood often says: “The little years don’t have to be the lost years” when it comes to your faith. This is a message I think resonates with many young moms. Just because your life is busier and more chaotic doesn’t mean that spiritual growth can’t happen. Head here to listen to an episode where they talk about that.

So, for me, it’s about fitting in prayer for my business and life where it makes sense, even in this season. Praying about my business and being okay with however my morning routine looks right now has been key to managing everything.

5. I Leave My Laptop in My Office

The fifth habit that helps me manage my business is leaving my laptop in my office instead of bringing it around the house with me and working wherever, whenever. I have a home office on our third floor, which I’m really grateful for. This setup might not always be possible, but for now, I have a dedicated office, and I really do “leave my work” up there. I don’t usually bring my laptop downstairs unless I’m heading out to work somewhere else or, on days when I’m home with the kids, to work a bit during nap time or after bedtime.

Sometimes, I’ll also bring it downstairs for a little online shopping—I am very much a millennial who prefers to shop on my laptop.

I think this approach helps with that elusive concept of work-life balance or work-life harmony. I’m not just sitting at the kitchen table working randomly while the kids play nearby; I’m focused on keeping work time for work time. And I know there are different seasons in business, so I want to say that my season might be different from yours.

There are times in our business when we’re in a season of hustle, and I’ve been there—working a lot after the kids go to bed or getting up before they wake up. If that’s where you are right now, keep going! I still have days where I need to do that too to get things done.

Right now, as I’m recording this, I know that leading up to Black Friday, I’ll have some nights where I’m working after bedtime to get everything ready. I’ve already told my husband that this is a priority right now, and I think it’s helpful to let both yourself and your family know when that’s going to be the case. But the key here is to be intentional about it. So, if you’re going to work after bedtime, that’s great—just be intentional. Know what you’re working on and why. Don’t work just because you’re bored or avoiding sleep. It can turn into “doom working,” like how we sometimes doom scroll.

For me, leaving my laptop on the third floor helps with this. Sometimes, I don’t even feel like walking up three flights of stairs to grab it, which helps me only get it when I really need to work on something. So, when I do go up and grab it, I know I’m working on something specific with intention.

6. I Don’t Sit At My Desk All Day

I really believe that successful people make it a point to move their bodies, get up, and exercise. You won’t have a productive day if you’re just sitting behind your desk for hours without getting up or looking away from your computer. Productivity drops when you do that; you need to change your scenery and get moving.

For some, that could mean taking a break to play some pickleball, going on a long walk with your kids, lifting weights, doing a spin class, or even just taking a solo walk. I like to mix things up personally, but one habit that keeps me sane on long workdays when I do have childcare is getting outside for a 10-minute walk (weather permitting). If it’s too cold, rainy, or otherwise unpleasant, I’ll at least get up from my desk and move around the house in some way.

Sometimes, that’s a 10-minute break to tidy up my bedroom or hang up the clothes that have collected on the floor of the closet. Small breaks like that help me manage my business better because when I return to my desk, I feel refreshed and ready to tackle the next task.

I don’t have a rigid system of, say, getting up every two hours, but I know when I’m hitting a point where my brain feels sluggish or I’m not as productive. That’s when I get up, go downstairs, walk around the block for 10 minutes, and come back ready to work.

Often, I’ll pop in my AirPods but leave them silent. I’m not looking for podcast or audiobook time, and I’m not aiming to catch up on a FaceTime call. I’m just looking for a moment of quiet to refresh and reset. So whether it’s doing laundry or taking a walk, these small breaks improve my productivity and keep me grounded.

Daily Business Routines & Habits That Help Me Manage My Business Well as a Busy Mom

I hope as you read this, you’re thinking about these ideas and considering, “These are the things that work well for Elizabeth—what could I try for myself?” Maybe there are things here that you’re already doing, but with a new twist, you could make them work even better for you. Reflect on what might fit your life and business routines.

To recap, here are the habits that work well for me:

Knowing what I’m going to work on each day before I sit down, using one of three different planning methods based on my needs that day.
Working on what excites me whenever possible, to keep inspiration fresh and improve the quality of what I create.
Evaluating whether something is a good use of my time, especially when testing new ideas, and being willing to stop if it isn’t adding value.
Praying over my business and making prayer a core part of my life, focusing on spiritual growth, even in a busy season with little kids.
Leaving my laptop in my office rather than carrying it around the house, to help separate work from the rest of life.
Not sitting at my desk all day, but getting up to take breaks, change the scenery, and recharge.

That’s it! I’d love to hear from you—reach out on Instagram or shoot me an email. Let me know which of these ideas you’ll be trying out or what you’re already doing yourself. And, if you’re listening live, take a break and check out my Black Friday deals this year. It’s an incredible sale, and I’m so excited to share it with you!

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