Ep. 1 “I could never take a whole month off.” | How Solopreneurs (Like You) Are Actually Taking Sabbaticals

This pop-up podcast is only available until February 1st!

Download the free Sabbatical Toolkit, including a roadmap, planning checklist, financial guide, and quiz to determine the best way to spend your time off: youneedasabbatical.com/toolkit

Do you remember the freedom you imagined when you first started your business? The spaciousness, the creativity, the sense that you’d finally be able to shape your days in a way that felt good. For many solopreneurs, that feeling fades as work grows and responsibilities pile up. What once felt energizing can start to feel heavy.

In this first lesson of Sabbatical School, Maegan invites you to rethink what a break can look like when you work for yourself. She shares how the typical academic model misses the heart of what a sabbatical is meant to offer, and why a shorter, intentional pause can create real spaciousness without risking your stability. You’ll hear the story of her first accidental sabbatical, why it changed everything, and why permission is the first and most important step.

This episode helps you consider the possibility that rest isn’t something you have to earn. It’s something you can build into your business on purpose.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How sabbaticals for solopreneurs differ from traditional academic sabbaticals and why a shorter, one-month sabbatical can be deeply effective. [01:23]
• The core purpose of a sabbatical: a planned pause to reconnect with yourself and your business without pressure to produce. [04:18]
• Why one month can be the perfect balance to reset your nervous system, spark creativity, and have a transformative experience without risking financial security. [05:30]
• Maegan’s personal story of burnout and the first sabbatical that led her to create Sabbatical School. [06:39]
• A simple first step to begin opening to the possibility of your own sabbatical, even if you’re unsure how it will happen. [10:53]

Sabbatical School is a seven-month program designed to help solopreneurs prepare their business and nervous system for a real month-long sabbatical. You’ll receive live coaching on practical steps like finances and systems, alongside deeper work on releasing guilt, re-imagining your relationship with time, and learning to rest fully.

Join Maegan’s full Sabbatical School program → youneedasabbatical.com

Enrollment opens January 2026