"Not a highlight reel. Not a hustle-culture pep talk. Just the real version, with a baby in a carrier, postpartum depression, and a relaunch that got done anyway."

I want to be honest with you about something before we get into any of this. When I started the Built During Nap Time series on Threads, it was not because I had it figured out. It was because I did not, and I needed somewhere to put that.

Here is the version of this story that does not get told enough: after my daughter was born, I took four months completely off. Not working, not exercising, not building anything. Just caring for myself and my baby. That was not a strategic sabbatical. That was survival. I was going through postpartum depression, which was hard to admit, hard to sit with, and even harder to talk about out loud. I am talking about it now because I think a lot of women who run businesses are carrying this quietly, and they deserve to know they are not the only ones.

I am thankful, deeply thankful, for my husband and my mom during that season. Without them, I genuinely do not know what that time would have looked like.

January Arrived and I Had No Idea What to Do With It

When the new year came, I felt stuck. Not in a dramatic, crisis-of-identity kind of way. Just stuck. Unsure of when to relaunch Cali Meets NYC, unsure of how, unsure if I even still had it in me. That last part is the one I did not expect. I had built this brand before, baby. I knew what it took. And yet I sat there in January genuinely wondering whether I could get back to it.

What moved me forward was not a business strategy. It was Pilates. I started going back slowly, a class here and there, and now I am up to four classes a week with a goal of five. Getting back into my body was the thing that reminded me I was still in there. Once I had that back, I could think about everything else.

"Getting back into my body was the thing that reminded me I was still in there. Once I had that back, I could think about everything else."

Setting a Date Changed Everything

At some point, I stopped waiting until I felt ready, because I realized ready was not coming on its own. I picked a relaunch date for Cali Meets NYC and started working backwards from it. What needed to happen in week four, week three, week two, and week one. It was messy. It was not organized the way I would have done it before. But it got done.

Half the time, my daughter wanted to be held. She was deep in the contact nap phase, which for anyone who has not experienced this is exactly what it sounds like: the baby will only sleep if someone is holding her. So I put her in the carrier, strapped her to my chest, and walked into the office. Baby girl got her nap. I typed

 emails. We both got what we needed. It was not cute or aesthetic. It was just what worked.

What It Looks Like Now

She is more independent now, which sounds like it would make things easier, and in some ways it does. But independence also means curiosity, and curiosity means she wants to explore everything, including the candle lab, which is absolutely not a space designed for a baby to wander through. So now the work is different. It is less about finding a window to sit down and more about figuring out the optimal time to work, the best time to take her outside, the right moments to let her interact with other babies, and move her body.

It is a balancing act I do not take lightly. Every day looks a little different. Some days the schedule holds, and I get a solid, focused block of work in. Some days it does not, and I am okay with that too, or I am learning to be.

I thank God for my husband, who shows up for us in ways that make all of this possible. Having a partner who is genuinely in it with you is not a small thing. It is the thing.

What I Want Other Moms to Know

If you are in the early fog right now, the part where you cannot imagine getting back to the thing you built or the thing you wanted to build, I am not going to tell you it gets easy. I am going to tell you it gets possible. There is a difference.

You do not have to figure it all out before you start. You do not have to feel ready. You do not have to have a clean desk or a quiet house or a baby who sleeps on a schedule. You just have to pick a date, work backwards, and be willing to write the email while the baby is in the carrier.

What I know for sure is that every day looks different, and I have stopped expecting otherwise. Some days I get two focused hours, and the work is sharp and intentional. Some days I get twenty minutes between a meltdown and a missed nap, and I use every single one. Neither version means the business is getting leftovers. It means I am running something real, around a life that is also real, and I am choosing both on purpose.

That is not a compromise. That is just what it looks like to build something that actually matters to you.