Personal News! Jasmine Answers All Your Questions About Balancing Pregnancy #2 And Running A Business

0:00Hey, Business Festies. Welcome back to Female Founder World. I'm Jasmine. I'm Jasmine. I'm Natalie on the team and she's here to ask me a few questions about a bit of an announcement. I am pregnant with baby number two and I've had a lot of questions come in on Instagram since I announced it and I wanted to take the opportunity to answer all of those questions about like the pregnancy and baby stuff but also maternity leave what I'm thinking about as someone who is doing this for the second time and what we're thinking about with the business and how we're going to manage it. Because I know so many people are also thinking about this, whether or not you're actually planning on having a baby anytime soon.

0:44I feel like for a lot of us, it's in the back of our head, like how are we going to do it? Yeah. Oh, this is my favorite kind of episode. Do you have questions? Oh, I have so many questions. Do you have questions from the community or just your question? First of all, yes. We want to know when you're due. Okay. So I'm due in late November, well mid to late November Sebastian was two weeks late so baby number one was two weeks late so I feel like this one will be late too I'm not sharing the exact date because it drove me like actually mad last time when I just all of the really well-meaning messages and then also because I'm sharing this on like Instagram and TikTok and like whatever with a bigger audience I was just getting it wasn't just friends and family it was like everyone saying any news how are you doing and when you are just so ready to not be pregnant anymore like it took every inch of self-control not to snap back which is such a stupid reaction to people just being caring so I'm not sharing the date this time just my own sanity no I that's fair because if I go like 10 days over again it's just too long yeah 100 especially when you have a platform yeah yeah but how are you feeling I'm feeling pretty good now you know how bad the first few months were and also I feel very lucky that I had more of a team this time with Sebastian it was just page really.

1:58Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. And now there's so many more of you and I have you who is like, you know, right hand doing everything because those first three months I, well, actually more than that. It was like 15 weeks, I guess. I was in bed. Like I lost 10 % of my body weight. I was able to eat maybe like three crackers a day. I was not keeping down fluids. I was on, you know, and that is with a lot of medication, but things are a lot better now. I was really similar with Sebastian. So I was expecting it, but you definitely forget how bad it is, but things are definitely a lot better now. I'm still on a lot of medication for nausea, but I've like put the weight back on.

2:35I've been able to eat, you know, not normally, but okay. Um, and I'm feeling pretty good. It's like, yeah, I can vouch for Jasmine. She was, it was not good. Not doing well, but we kept everything up and running. Like we really, you did so well you guys did so well I'm so proud I mean our fearless leader you were like no problem like she was still on Slack no you were still like on Slack I mean barely are you okay barely yeah we didn't have a call for like yeah we didn't two months that was weird yeah yeah it was like the occasional Slack voice note but yeah that was bad yeah all right let me check and see what other community questions we have oh this is a good one will you take maternity leave this time?

3:21I know you didn't really list up. No. So I'm not taking maternity leave in the way that you would like traditionally think of it. And people have thoughts and reactions and bring their own stuff to that. I am someone who I really like my work and I didn't, I had an amazing experience when Sebastian was born during those newborn like weeks and months just like I didn't have the identity crisis I didn't have like I felt really good I just felt like there was more in my life that I loved and that I wanted to do and I felt stretched but I just yeah I felt like there was more in my life that I loved and that I wanted to do and I still wanted to do work but in saying that I was obviously like not producing content every day and like not on camera and there is planning that needs to happen so that I can take a step back but I still you know intend to be on slack and like checking emails and and approving content and those kind of things but it's just going to take like organization from all of us to make sure that we've got six weeks of podcast scheduled and that kind of that kind of content ready to go so that I can be more relaxed but you know my friends in Australia it's really common to take six months to 12 months maternity leave totally off really and that when you yeah that's like that is standard in Australia and then I come to it from the you know someone who's lived in New York for 10 years and my friends here are taking like three months it's much different and I think if you've got your own business it is actually impossible to not turn up to work like that's just not an option there wouldn't be a business for me to come back to, unfortunately, if I stepped away for six months, like what would, a lot can happen in six months.

5:13Like it's just, this business is my first baby. It is my vision. I don't, I don't want to step away from it. And we're not just, we're not big enough yet for me to be able to do that. There's not enough people on the team. So no, I won't be taking official maternity leave. Um, but I will be stepping back a little bit for a couple of months and then in trying to rope in some kind of patchwork childcare situation, whether that is my mom moving in or roping in my mother-in-law and getting family to help, which we're so, so lucky to be able to have. Because if the option was, you know, putting a three-month-old in daycare or going to, you know, or going back to work, like I would really struggle with that.

5:54But because I've got family as an option, I think that just makes things easier. Absolutely. A good follow-up question to that is what would you do differently this time around in terms of the business also things have changed so much since you had sub last time oh my god when i had sebastian so we hadn't done a summit yet had we no because he was tiny tiny yes that's right oh he was but he wasn't even what no he wasn't one no no no he wasn't one you're so right oh wow that's on so quickly. He, yeah, so I would, um, what I would do differently. I had an event five weeks after Sebastian was born.

6:36We did a full takeover of the Museum of Ice Cream and it was for International Women's Day and it was great. Like it was really fun, but it was the first kind of like biggish event that we did. It's nowhere near like what we do for Summit, but it was still, I think we had like 400 people, you know. It was, but it was like, I shouldn't have, I shouldn't have done that. Like with hindsight, I shouldn't have done that. But the opportunity was there. They offered us the space for free. The community wanted to come. You had a great turnout. Totally. We hit capacity on tickets like immediately. Like it took a couple of days and I was just excited and I wanted to follow the momentum of the business.

7:11And I think in those early days, if you have momentum and if you've tried businesses before that didn't have momentum, you know what it feels like and you don't want to let that opportunity pass you by. and so I was just so, I didn't want to say no to anything at that stage. Whereas this time, knowing what I know, we've brought Summit forward. So Summit is happening on the 5th of October. So, you know, unless like the baby's really, really, really early, which would be like its own huge issue if the baby was this early, I should be able to have a bit of a buffer after we host this really big event where we don't have that in-person stuff.

7:47We should have all of the, all of the loose threads tied up and we can have like a little bit of a breather in terms of in person programming so that's probably the the main thing I would have is like I don't want to be answerable to like partners and sponsors and those big external calls in like the weeks afterwards I just want to be like communicating with you guys and doing the fun creative stuff I think that's super smart yeah because otherwise like you just end up you end up needing to kind of cancel things or things are unpredictable and you're disappointed in yourself. And it's just easier just to give yourself like the space and the grace, I think.

8:23100%. Yeah. Like looking ahead. And now you have the luxury to do so. Yes. In a different space. Yes. A big question from the community and selfishly, the question I want to know the answer to is, do you know the gender? I can't believe I haven't told you this yet. I know. We're live, guys. What do you think? What's your guess? Oh, I don't know. I'm so bad at this. We should have done our own gender reveal. Oh, we should have. I did one with my friends as well. Oh, you did? Oh, I don't know what you're asking. Was it a girl? Yeah. I know. I know. I know. I know. That's so exciting. Oh, my gosh.

9:04That's amazing. So how was your gender reveal? I didn't do a full gender reveal. I'll show you the video afterwards. It's really cute. Maybe I'll post it if Steve lets me as well. Um, we just like, we just found out in the blood test that we got from the doctor. So we, I just filmed us like looking, you know, reading the results and I thought the baby was a girl. Like I just had a feeling that it was a girl. And then I had my like 12 week scan and the doctor was like, oh, I think I can see something. And if they can see something, it's a boy. Right. And so then I just, and I felt a little bit disappointed, which is such a stupid reaction.

9:36But like, that is my, that was the honest reaction. Yeah, that's valid. and it is genuinely like you would never be disappointed when the baby actually comes but yeah that was my reaction so then I tried to like talk myself out of it and I was like oh no no no it's a boy it's a boy but yeah girl a girl's girl yeah so fun oh no what a beautiful girl that will be I also want to know and the community wants to know do you have a name yeah I'm not telling you though I'm not telling you that is the one thing that is my secret that's fair I would probably do the same but i've only got one girl's name i've always had a girl like that's what sebastian was going to be if he was a girl like if there's one name oh wow and you won't guess it i'm not no way all right i won't even try are you nervous about building the business with two and also having a newborn again like yeah your feelings going yes i definitely i think i'm still in a bit of denial about it to be honest it's actually like it's somewhat easier going in with the first because You don't really know what you're in for.

10:36And I found the baby month so much easier than like, you know, now we're at least in a rhythm. We've got proper childcare. Like he's in, he's got daycare. And so you can carve out those dedicated work hours. But with a baby, you have the flexibility because they sleep all the time and like they don't really need you to be interacting with them. So I could get so much more done without feeling like I was away from the baby. whereas now I'm kind of, I know what I'm in for. Like I know that the baby is going to become the toddler that's going to become this thing that like requires all of, you know, all of your attention.

11:13And so I am nervous when I let myself think about it but I do think it is really helpful. I look at examples of other people who've done it and I actually do this with any time I want to try something new that I find a little bit daunting. I'm like, okay, who else has done it? There's someone that I can resonate with. And I look at Alison from Poppy. She had four. Four? I think she had four while building that business. And, like, I'm not building a billion-dollar company. Maybe. I don't think so. You never know. You never know. But, like, she can do that. Then that just makes you feel a bit more doable.

11:46Baba from Ceremonia, she has four. And her first pregnancy, she raised money for the company and launched during that pregnancy. She's the twins. Like, you know, she did it. Cindy Romero, she has two. Twins are incredible. I mean, we say it all the time, but it's truly. You also need to have very honest conversations with these women and other women about what their care setup is. That's true. And like Baba is like she does post about that a lot. I don't know what Alison's situation is, but I am going to ask her. You need to know what their care setup is because it can be, it can look very much like, oh, they're doing it, they're doing everything and whatever.

12:22But it's like how much time are they getting with their children? Are they happy with that balance? do they need a nanny do they have someone that lives in do they have daycare do they have a mom or a dad that comes in like a grandparent that can support what does it look like and is that something that I want to yeah you know like I think if if I see examples of people who have care setups that don't feel right to me then like that's not expansive you need to find people who are doing it in a way that like feels comfortable for you yeah I'm also curious about people's commutes you know are they going into an office yes leading team meetings are they entirely remote it just really varies and also depends on the city and yeah you are in the world yeah so it's like another factor that just adds a layer totally so I'm nervous but I'm also like a bit delusional and enjoying looking at other people who've done it thinking it'll be fine it'll be fine way to go in my opinion I have all the faith in the world that'll be excellent and you've built we've grown so much yeah that was Warren yeah so it's exactly limitless like it's gonna be great and we only really got child care proper child care for Sebastian after he was one like that first year like he just came along with us you know it's true he was at everything he just came along but he's very well behaved so he's not anymore he was yeah well they start walking and talking and then you're like oh yeah and you also said that this trip we're here in New York right now and Jasmine's had a whirlwind of a trip for the past two days traveling around.

13:53And you said it's the first time you've really felt like so sick leaving him behind. Like when he was younger, I feel like it was a little bit of a different. I also didn't spend, like, I haven't spent this long away from him before. So, you know, I've talked about this on Instagram a little bit, but if, you know, obviously not everyone who listens to the podcast follows me there, but we have, we're trying to like figure out what home is going to be and so right now we've got this airbnb in sydney we still have our apartment in new york which is on and off rented out and i am flying to new york all the time long trips short trips but this one is like nearly two weeks and that is two weeks without sebastian and i've never spent that long away and like that's something that i really need to think about when we have another baby as well because hopefully i'll be breastfeeding there's all of that to consider.

14:43Yeah. So I'm going to have to bring the baby with me. That means I'm going to have to bring someone with me to help look after the baby while I'm working. Like it adds a layer of complication. Yeah. Come on in. You used to babysit. Yeah. I used to babysit all the time. How young? Little, little, like babies. Okay. Like between us, we got it. Yeah. Don't worry. Just add it. Just bring her along. My job description. Yeah. You do literally everything else. I'm just going to rope in some childcare as well. It's no problem. But it does. Yeah. that adds a layer of complication. What was the question?

15:12I was just saying that this time around you felt sad leaving him behind. Yes. Once they get to that age. He knows as well. Yeah, that's so true. Yeah. Like he really knows. Yeah. Well, you're doing a great job. Thank you. Any more questions or are we done? That's it. Okay. Amazing. I just wanted to jump in and end the show with a quick thank you and shout out to all of our paid Business Besties subscribers. Business Besties bypass literally years of networking by getting access to all of the people that you need to build your dream business. You also get invited to exclusive monthly group business coaching call sessions where you can speak to experts and founders and ask them all of those questions that you just can't Google.

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