Planning for Parental Leave with Erica Courdae & India Jackson

05/28/24 • 47 min

Engineering Calmer Agencies & Consulting Firms: Calm is the New KPI

How do you step away from your business for a necessary break without losing momentum or compromising your values?

Deciding to take a leave or sabbatical, and then figuring out the best approach for you, how to maintain client relationships while you're away, or even ensuring you have enough financial security during your break are all complex challenges that many of us face.

As part of my exploration of breaks, leaves, and sabbaticals and all of the different ways you can plan for them, I’m talking to Erica Courdae and India Jackson, the partners behind Pause on the Play, a resource library, podcast, and consultancy committed to guiding individuals in defining their values, diversifying their networks, and disrupting systems of oppression.

India has just returned from parental leave after having her first child. Together, she and Erica have navigated the operational and financial complexities of planning for leave, including their decision to shut down the Pause on the Play Community.

While the context of Erica and India's experience is parental leave, the strategies they employed are universally applicable. Their unique approach to planning and managing their leave can be a practical guide for anyone considering a break from their business.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

How a desire for openness, simplicity, and sustainability shaped their conversations about the business even before planning for India’s parental leave
How Erica and India went about simplifying processes and closing loops with their clients and community leading up to going on leave
How the business maintained some revenue during leave, and how they planned an on-ramp for India’s return
How joy and ease are informing their decision-making as they return to full operations
Why they have clear containers around what platforms they use to discuss work and personal life
How they are building opportunities to connect with their communities as people without always making it about work

Learn more about Erica Courdae and India Jackson:

Pause on the Play
Instagram: @pauseontheplay

Learn more about me, Susan Boles:

Grab your free ticket to the Autonomous Creative Conference for May 13-15 at beyondmargins.com/autonomous

How do you step away from your business for a necessary break without losing momentum or compromising your values?

Listen to the full episode to hear:

How a desire for openness, simplicity, and sustainability shaped their conversations about the business even before planning for India’s parental leave
How Erica and India went about simplifying processes and closing loops with their clients and community leading up to going on leave
How the business maintained some revenue during leave, and how they planned an on-ramp for India’s return
How joy and ease are informing their decision-making as they return to full operations
Why they have clear containers around what platforms they use to discuss work and personal life
How they are building opportunities to connect with their communities as people without always making it about work

Learn more about Erica Courdae and India Jackson:

Pause on the Play
Instagram: @pauseontheplay

Learn more about me, Susan Boles:

Grab your free ticket to the Autonomous Creative Conference for May 13-15 at beyondmargins.com/autonomous

Previous Episode

Navigating Breaks In Business and Life: Inside My Unplanned Hiatus

Sometimes, you just need a break. I know I did.
What was meant to be a quick breather turned into a transformative journey of two and a half years. The show (and my company) emerged with a new name, a new look, and a new perspective on what truly sustains a business—and a life.

I say that I took a break from my business. But the reality is that I broke. I realized that I was burnt out to the point where I was physically, psychologically, and emotionally impaired.

In this episode, I share the whole story—the behind-the-scenes of what went wrong, what went right, and why I’m back. Today’s episode kicks off a series on, appropriately, taking a break.

Whether you need a break because of burnout like me, you or someone you love got sick, you're getting ready to have a kid and need to plan for parental leave, or you just want to take a sabbatical to refresh, big breaks are hard to prepare for.

How do you figure out how to pay yourself (and your team) during a break? What systems and procedures need to be in place to make sure things run smoothly? How do you handle managing and serving your clients while you're away? And, if the break is unexpected and unplanned, what then?

After all, running a business is a marathon—not a sprint. If we’re going to be in it for the whole 26.2 miles, we better learn how to rest. And that starts with making calm your KPI.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

The challenges of pausing work and the reality of burnout recovery
Why I made the counterintuitive decision to take a full-time job to rest
The importance of building a business with comfortable margins and a focus on sustainability rather than relentless growth
Why I’m using calm as a key performance indicator (KPI) in business and advocating for a model that values space, margin, and a personalized definition of success

Learn more about me, Susan Boles:

Learn more about Sean McMullin:

YellowHouse.Media

Grab your free ticket to the Autonomous Creative Conference for May 13-15 at beyondmargins.com/autonomous

Next Episode

Lazy Training, Fire Drills & Expecting the Unexpected with Layla Pomper

What happens when you unexpectedly need to step away from your business's operations? How can you prepare your business not just to survive but to thrive, even when key team members are away?

In our continuing series on planning for leaves, sabbaticals, and breaks from your business, we’re shifting our focus from the personal side to the backbone of any business: operations.

Layla Pomper, creator of Process Driven, joins me to delve into the empowering process of building operational resilience in your business. This process not only allows you to take a break more easily but also ensures your business runs more efficiently day to day, putting you firmly in control of your business's future.

Layla shares a range of practical strategies, tactics, and systems you can implement now. These will not only prepare you for a break but also instill confidence and peace of mind in your business operations.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

Why clearly defining each team member’s “what, who, when” is the crucial first step to managing an absence
How your business model impacts your options for taking leave
How lazy training gives team members exposure to and familiarity with your process
Why you should be using shorter absences and vacations as fire drills for your systems
Steps business owners can take to remove themselves as bottlenecks
How to build a network that you can lean on during a break

Learn more about Layla Pomper:

Learn more about me, Susan Boles:

Grab your free ticket to the Autonomous Creative Conference for May 13-15 at beyondmargins.com/autonomous