May 27, 2025 • 45 mins
Hannah Dewar shares her journey from full-time employment to entrepreneurship, describing how she created a flexible business model centered around her family priorities. She walks us through the faith and practical decisions that led her to launch Lovely Nine Months, her fitness and nutrition coaching business for pregnant and postpartum women.
• Working as a chiropractic assistant provided valuable experience but created logistical challenges after having her daughter
• Commuting between home, childcare, and work sometimes took two hours of her day
• Felt convicted about not prioritizing her highest calling as a mother and disciple
• Made the courageous decision to step away from her job before seeing financial provision
• Downsized their home and moved in with in-laws to create financial flexibility
• Built her business slowly and intentionally, focused on word-of-mouth growth
• Approaches business decisions by discerning between "striving" and "grace"
• Creates a welcoming environment for moms by allowing children at training sessions
• Recommends 100g of protein daily during pregnancy and weightlifting 2-3 times weekly
• Suggests putting workout times on the calendar "like a business meeting" for postpartum recovery
• Values the small, everyday moments with her daughter that became possible through her career shift
If you want to work with Hannah, follow her on Instagram and Facebook at Lovely Nine Months for pregnancy and postpartum fitness and nutrition coaching, available both remotely and in-person.
If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another mom who needs encouragement. Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me on LinkedIn.
For other episodes and resources, visit our website at https://littlehandsbigplans.co/pages/podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today's guest is Hannah DeWaar.
Hannah is the owner of LovelyNine Months, which is a fitness
and nutrition coaching company,and she specializes in helping
moms through pregnancy andpostpartum.
As a current client of Hannah's, I can attest to how amazing
she is in that role.
But today we're going to betalking about the shift that
(00:24):
happened before she started hercompany and how she made certain
sacrifices and decisions inorder to get there and
prioritize motherhood.
Welcome to Little Hands BakePlans, the podcast for moms who
want to reimagine work afterkids and build a life where
(00:45):
family comes first, withoutgiving up your dreams.
I'm Emilia and I know firsthandhow much motherhood shifts our
careers, our priorities and ourpace.
But instead of seeing it as asetback, what if we saw it as an
invitation, an opportunity todesign a life with a little more
freedom, a little more presenceand a little more fulfillment?
(01:07):
Each week, we'll have honestconversations with moms who've
shaped their work and businessaround what truly matters.
Whether you're considering acareer pivot, dreaming of a
slower pace or just wonderingwhat's possible, you're in the
right place.
So grab a little something warm, settle in and let's explore
the possibilities together.
(01:27):
Okay, hannah, so let's talk alittle bit about what your
career looked before you hadbabies, and we're going to be
talking about a career shiftthat happened after your first
baby, so tell me about what itwas like before yeah, so I was
(01:52):
working for a chiropractor as achiropractic assistant doing
some front desk work for them,but really they helped me get
launched into more of the careerof nutrition, super supportive
of that journey.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So I just I thank God for them all the time, just for
really getting me into thisfield of nutrition coaching and
just preventative wellnessreally, but it just wasn't super
conducive to my family'sschedule and whatnot.
So that's what kind of set usup for the bigger shift.
(02:30):
But, yeah, that space was sucha beautiful launch pad for me
and I got to work with patientsright from the get-go so I had a
lot of learning experience thatI probably wouldn't have gotten
if I had just started out on myown, because I was able to do
some like advanced nutritiontesting with patients and that
was just a huge learningexperience for me, really
(02:52):
setting me up today for theknowledge that I have now.
So I'm really thankful for that.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
What would your day typically look like?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Before we had my daughter we were living about 35
40 minutes away, so we movedour whole life out closer to
that place of work.
So my commute was only about 15minutes, but our child care was
still out 35 40 minutes away.
So once we had Thea it got alittle bit hairy, especially on
(03:26):
the days where my husband wasn'table to drop her off because
our schedules were so differentand my start time was often
later than his, so I would driveher out for childcare and then
back to my place of work.
That could be the better partof two hours.
Just dropping her off forchildcare could be the better
part of two hours just droppingher off for child care.
(03:47):
So that's where it added quitea bit of strain to the schedule,
on top of already working fulltime.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
And you kept your job after she was born.
So how did you plan formaternity leave after Thea?
How young was she when she wentback?
And then what eventuallyprompted you to say I'm just
gonna change a little bit?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
yeah, that's another thing about my job that I was
super thankful for when I waspregnant with Thea and planning
to be a mom.
They were so supportive andthey were very supportive of
even breastfeeding journey andjust making sure I was set up
for success in that regard.
So that was really nice.
They allowed me to take a goodmaternity leave as well.
(04:28):
But going back to work, youjust don't know what you don't
know, and I always tell momspregnant with their first just
be prepared for your prioritiesto shift.
Things that seemed reallyimportant before or things that
you were expecting to jugglebefore all of a sudden don't
have as big of importance, andthat doesn't mean that they were
(04:49):
bad in the previous season, butfor the new season ahead you
might have to shift some things.
I took about eight weeks ofmaternity leave and then, coming
back to work, I was stillprobably around 32 hours, so I
was still working full-time.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
And then, what kind of things did you do to keep the
breastfeeding relationshipgoing as you returned to work?
Did you pump every three hours,or how did you juggle that?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I was thankful because, again, they were super
supportive of that and they'rereally well known in the
community for helping be asupportive role in a mom's
journey if she decides tobreastfeed.
I did have opportunity to pumpas much as I needed to and that
was really helpful.
And then any waking hour that Iwas with her, we were together.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So our attachment was still pretty strong, I would
say, granted for the amount oftime that we were apart, usually
during the day, and I know thateventually you made the
courageous choice to step backfrom your previous career a
little bit, and I know a lot ofthat was motivated because you
wanted to spend more time withthem and be able to lean into
(06:01):
your motherhood journey a littlebit more.
How did you go about planningthat?
What gave you the courage toactually take that leap without
knowing exactly what was next?
Or many moms have financialfears in terms of, okay, I'm
leaving a career, I need myincome to also provide for my
(06:22):
family.
How do I go about doing that?
How did you mentally come upwith that choice and what
practical steps did you take tobe able to prepare for that leap
?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah.
So those are good questions.
There's a lot to unpack there.
I guess I will say this I can'tspeak highly enough of where I
came from prior to becoming amom.
They did everything theyabsolutely could to set me up
for success and to be able tohopefully continue working there
, but logistically it justdidn't work.
(06:54):
For our family it was.
I love them to death.
But ultimately I had to decidelogistically if I'm spending two
hours in a car just to drop mychild off at child care and then
going to work a job, that I'mjust paying for the child care
and we're not actually gettingahead financially as a family
just to say that I can go towork and work a schedule that
(07:16):
was really demanding for mementally and physically
demanding for my daughter.
It's just that the pros weren'tweighing out the cons anymore.
For my daughter, it's just thatthe pros weren't weighing out
the cons anymore.
And then I think too, as aperson of faith the longer you
(07:36):
go in your journey with the Lord, the more you realize how
costly it is to live indisobedience.
My life wouldn't have beendisobedient if I had continued
working that schedule andcontinued arranging child care
for my daughter and living thatfamily rhythm.
As long as I was healthy andglorifying the Lord, then that
would have been fine.
But for our family, I started torealize that I was living in
(07:59):
disobedience because I wasn'thonoring my highest calling,
which was, first and foremost,to nurture my family and
disciple my child as a discipleof Jesus.
We had to ask ourselves sometough questions the finances
more important than beingobedient to God?
And when God asks you to beobedient to him, he knows what
(08:22):
our needs are.
So that was the thing that wehad to tell ourselves is, if
he's asking us to do this, thenhe knows that we have a young
mouth to feed.
He knows that right.
He doesn't show you how he'sgoing to provide until you say
yes and start taking that firststep.
So I think that's just what wehad to decide is are we going to
(08:54):
be obedient or are we going toplay it safe?
Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I have so many more questions to follow up on that.
Up on that.
I know that you took somepretty bold steps in terms of
not knowing really what wascoming next when you made the
decision of following inobedience and deciding that you
were going to step back fromyour job in your personal life.
(09:20):
What other steps did you takefrom there once you decided,
okay, I'm going to do this andfor someone that might be
listening and wondering, okay, Iwant to do this too.
What came next?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah.
So I think my naturalinclination when God asked me to
step back from my job was okay,you have to give my husband a
raise.
When that didn't happen rightaway, I was like, okay, god's
not a liar and he's asking me todo this and he claims he's
going to sustain me in it, butwhat do I need to do to be an
(09:56):
active participant in what he'sasking me to do?
And I realized he was asking meto start developing certain
skills that I was sitting onjust because I was going to my
job and checking off the boxesand being a good employee.
But there were things that Godhad been stirring in me for
years of being a business ownerand really being able to cast my
(10:20):
own vision in the wellnessspace.
Cast my own vision in thewellness space.
I think that was another layerof obedience that God was asking
of me was.
There's that story in the Biblewhere, like, a wealthy man gives
one person like five talents,and then one person ten talents
and then one person one, and thepeople with five and ten
(10:42):
talents they go and invest themoney and do something with it
and then the one person who hadthis one little piece of money,
just buried it, basically.
And I felt so convicted that Ihad basically just been sitting
on these gifts that God hadgiven me, but I wasn't
developing them.
And God was like, hello, I'vegiven you this dream and now
(11:05):
you're being a bad steward withit, like I created you before
the dawn of time with thisspecific skill set that I want
you to develop.
And if you don't do it, thenwho else?
So I was very convicted by that, and when I said yes and
started developing these skillsand starting to build this
business, kind of one brick at atime, I realized oh my word,
(11:27):
god's going to provide theincome that we need, but also
give me this abundance of timeto spend with my daughter, right
?
So that was the big wake-upcall for me, was I don't need to
just throw my giftings to thewind for the long season of
motherhood, but God is going togive me some strategies on how I
can use them creatively so thatI can have ability to
(11:53):
contribute to the family incomebut also not sacrifice the
health of my daughter and thehealth of my family.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I'm so excited because I think it'll be fun to
talk about your business andwhat you're doing now and some
postpartum nutrition tips, whichwill be really fun.
But in the meantime, I alsowant to step back and go through
your huge decision to downsizeyour home, to have that sort of
(12:23):
financial freedom to be able topursue and start your business.
Can you walk us through thatprocess and what that meant for
you?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, that was a big logistical mountain was having
this home in an area that wewere shifting away from career
wise.
We moved out there because myhusband was working out there at
the time and I was working outthere at the time, and now that
both of those jobs were done orending, we're like, wait, why
(12:52):
are we up so far away from ourfamily and all of our support?
And then we realized that wewere basically living in a house
, that we didn't need that muchspace, and so we just decided
you know what?
It's?
Just a house.
It was a lovely house, we lovedthat house, but it just
logistically was a bit of amountain in the way.
(13:13):
So I think we can get attachedto things that are really, in
the grand scheme of things, justthings.
So we currently are living withmy in-laws, as we've been just
in this huge, basicallyyear-long transition of shifting
and changing paths andrestructuring our family model.
But even that has been ablessing because we've been able
(13:35):
to parent multi-generationally.
Our culture is such a raritywhere you don't have more than
two generations living in a home.
Where you don't have more thantwo generations living in a home
, usually there's three andthere's so much wisdom and
support and just wealth thatcomes from relational wealth,
that comes from having thegrandparents having a healthy
(13:58):
say in the family rhythms andthen the parenting of the
children.
So that has just been anindescribable gift to us,
because our daughter gets to getall this wisdom from not just
me and my limited young momperspective, but from a woman
who's raised five children.
So that's been such a huge gift.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
My little lovely newborn will be giving
commentary throughout as well.
Tell us a little bit more aboutyour business, and something
that I've loved in followingyour business journey is how
intentional you've been aboutgrowing it slowly, like, I think
.
A lot of the times you hearabout fast growth and how do you
grow and get more clients and Ijust love how you have been
(14:43):
just so intentional in terms ofthat growth.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So, yeah, yeah oh man , I am not really speaking from
a place of arrival, but verymuch in a season of journeying
through it, because I'm such acontrol freak and if this was
any other thing any other season, I know just I know myself I
(15:08):
know that I would have taken itand run way too fast.
But I think because it was suchan obedience move and from the
beginning God was calling me outon it like hey, what are you
doing that he's allowed me thisgrace to walk with it, so open
hand.
Yeah, I really haven't even beendoing much marketing on it
(15:29):
until recently, so all of myclientele has basically been
word of mouth and then divineconnections on being able to use
a facility for training myclients and whatnot.
I would say what I'm learningthrough that is when you are
walking with a God dream in yourhands.
Just keep your hands open andreally let the Lord grow it for
(15:53):
you, Just one day at a time.
It's okay if it doesn't fittraditional marketing strategies
or business strategies.
If you have a peace and youknow that you're walking in
obedience to the Lord, it willbe blessed.
And I think the whole purposeof scaling back and deciding to
(16:18):
work for myself was rooted inwanting to spend more time with
my daughter, so it would besilly to rush back into
something that would immediatelycause all the same problems
that I was trying to fix in thefirst place.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So that's been hopeful too, because you
mentioned, your natural tendencywould be to go.
Do you ever have days when youhave to fight that?
Or how do you stay grounded inthat all the time, when there is
sometimes, maybe, opportunitiesthat you have to say no, or
getting to a spot where youmight be struggling with the
same time struggles that youwere having for?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
yeah, I feel, wow, it's such a question, I think,
just gauging, really takinginventory of my heart.
Whenever I'm making a decisionor deciding to expand and try to
find a couple new clients, I'veasked myself am I doing this
(17:20):
because I feel like I need to,or am I doing this because God
is asking me to?
And basically boiling that downeven more would be am I doing
this from a spirit of strivingor am I doing this from a place
of grace?
I think you can feel, and as afellow business owner, when you
go through seasons where youjust feel like you're pushing a
(17:44):
boulder uphill for months andmonths at a time and then in
hindsight you realize thatwasn't even it.
Like I thought I was in agrowth season, but I was really
in an infrastructure season.
Yeah, and God is outside ofspace and time.
He knows if it's a growthseason or an infrastructure
season or whatever the seasonmight be.
(18:06):
So, just spending quality timewe pray for things like
provisions and whatnot, but Ithink praying for divine
strategies and wisdom.
God is so faithful to providethat and really help you decide
what kind of a season yourbusiness is in and then if what
you're trying to accomplishdoesn't align with the season
(18:27):
that God has established foryour business, then you know
it's a no-go, like maybe we'lldo that next quarter or next
year, or five years, 10 years.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
But just being conscious and faithful to
staying in your lane and stayingin the season you're in is
crucial, or else you're burnoutright yeah, and I think a lot of
the times, the hardest thing istaking that first step, when
fear, I think, just keeps somany dreams and so many
(18:59):
potential relationships stuckbecause we're so afraid of the
change and we can get socomfortable where we're at.
If someone was to reach out toyou and be in a similar
situation, what advice would yougive in terms of getting over
that fear, but also thepractical steps like having had
(19:23):
downsized?
Do you feel that gave you moreroom for motherhood?
If you were to go back into theposition you were before, and
perhaps someone that might notbe as advanced in terms of, I
think, trusting God, someonethat might not be in that
journey yet?
What do they do?
How do they get started?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
someone that might not be in that journey yet.
What do they do?
How do they get started?
Yeah, I think, make sure youand your partner.
If you're a single mother orsingle parent listening to this,
then that's a differentconversation.
But if you are, praise the lord, partnered with somebody in
your parenting journey, makesure you're on the same page
with them.
Figure out what your financialgoals are.
Figure out what your spiritualgoals are.
Figure out what your spiritualgoals are.
For us, that was the number oneticket thing for making this
(20:07):
whole shift.
In the first place was Godcompletely turned the table over
on what our model of a biblicalfamily looked like, and it has
reached its arms and its fingersinto every aspect of our lives.
Like nothing has been offlimits and it's all lit.
Here's yet another thing thatwe're learning and relearning.
So definitely be on the samepage with your spouse.
(20:29):
Figure out what do you wantyour family to look like,
because if you don't have anidea of what it looks to win,
then you're not going to knowwhat you're aiming for right.
And then start developing yourskill set.
If you you're creative, get aCanva membership and start
building content that only livesinside of your brain and just
get really good at creatingcontent and sell it.
(20:50):
Or if you've got a specificskill set or you've got this
degree that seems super random,figure out how you can develop
those skill sets a little bitmore and then market them to be
beneficial for your family.
You read about the Proverbs 31woman in the Bible, and she's
not idle by any means.
(21:11):
She's so valuable to her family.
She's like the COO of her house.
She's not just sitting at homelike eating bonbons.
She's got this amazing skillset.
She's creative, she's good withmoney.
She's such a blessing to thecommunity, even to the people
who work in her household.
She gets up before it's lightout and prepares food for even
(21:32):
her servants.
So even the people that areunderneath her, the people that
are eventually maybe going to beworking for you, are blessed by
you.
So by no means does it meanthat as a mom, you should be
sitting on your skill set, butthere's a way to partner with
the Lord and get reallystrategic with it, so that way
you don't have to choose yourskill set or your kid.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yes, and that I think because I'm in so many Facebook
mom groups and I always seethis question asked of people
that want to spend more timewith their kids.
Because even the really amazingjobs that like it sounds like
you were in such a supportiveenvironment but there's still
(22:10):
limits in terms of what you canget in a job, versus when you're
building a business, whereyou're literally building it
around motherhood and aroundyour kids.
It's nothing against employers,it's just there's so only so
much they can do because they'restill also running a business.
So I feel like if a mom canstart a business, it's the
(22:33):
ultimate flexibility becauseyou're building it around your
priorities.
And it's amazing because, as afellow believer, I know that God
gives gifts to everyone andeveryone has gifts that they
could contribute to not onlytheir family but the world, and
so often it feels if it's notsomething really traditional,
(22:55):
then we just sit on it.
A lot of people sit on it and Ilove that.
I really think that's such agood, encouraging thing to think
about.
Even if you have a job andyou're on maternity leave and
wondering if it might change,pregnancy is like a wonderful
time to expand on that andimprove and I feel like too,
(23:18):
moms who have contemplatedanything of this topic.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
they are going to be your best marketers.
Yes, there is nothing that makesme happier than seeing another
mom just go after something thatmakes them happy but also
allows them to be at home withtheir child.
And those are the moms that getit.
I'm in the wellness space, I'ma personal trainer, I'm a
nutrition coach.
I don't care if you bring yourchild to your workout because I
(23:44):
get it.
I'm in the wellness space, I'ma personal trainer, I'm a
nutrition coach.
I don't care if you bring yourchild to your workout because I
get it.
I wouldn't want to leave my kidat home either or say you don't
even have the option.
So I think more and more momswho are supporting other moms
that are just figuring this outand using their skill set to
bless other people and blesstheir family.
And sure, just join the party,we'll get creative.
(24:05):
Well, you can hold the littleone pound weight and do little
bicep curls with it while we doour workout.
It's fine.
And you just don't get thatfrom the traditional nine to
five.
You're going to have to accountfor who's watching the child
and then you're going to have tolikely pay for that child care.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Most people don't have family who can full-time
watch your child for free and,as your current client, that has
been such a blessing because Ido and have very velcro like
kids that just stick to me atall times and I haven't been
able to go back to a gym.
I didn't feel like I could, Ididn't necessarily feel welcome.
A lot of places have the childcare but the child care is far
so I would not be able toconcentrate on my workout and
(24:52):
just going to work out with youand knowing that I can bring
them there is actually huge ingetting me there.
So I'm a current client ofHannah's.
She does nutrition coaching andpersonal fitness and she has
been really amazing in terms ofmy recovery, I'm gonna say, from
(25:12):
my second child birth and Iwill share more about my birth
story on a different day.
But I had a c-section, feltsuper broken and just I'm so
happy.
It's amazing how we werefriends before but we hadn't
talked about if I would becomeyour client or anything like
that, and if you hadn't donethat, I probably wouldn't even I
(25:34):
wouldn't have looked for it, Idon't think because I was just
in such a broken space that Ihad to have that connection with
you, like I had to have thatfrom before to feel like I could
be vulnerable and be able toeven get to a space where I felt
okay, training and just all the, all my struggles man, so the
(25:57):
most humbling time justpregnancy and childbirth.
It's so vulnerable, yeah, andyou don't know what you
vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah, and you don't know what you don't know, and
you also don't know what kind ofcards you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
What are some easy things that moms can do during
their pregnancy and postpartumjourney to help their bodies
prepare for childbirth and thenrecover after?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, super good questions.
Really loaded questions too.
I'll try to just pick the mostpractical things.
I think getting started with afitness regimen of some kind
during pregnancy is huge.
Your body will be so thankfulfor the birth experience that
you'll have.
It dramatically increases yourchance of a vaginal birth and
(26:43):
then decreases your likelihoodof gestational diabetes.
Hypertension decreases chancesof a c-section.
Of course, there's a lot ofother variables in play, but if
you're getting yourself ashealthy as possible for birth
and for the postpartum recoveryprocess, your body will only be
thankful for it.
You're only doing yourself afavor.
(27:03):
Something as simple as liftingweights two to three times a
week and then maybe doing somewalking, just very light
cardiovascular exercise in thereas well Huge, very huge.
I think it's important to workwith somebody who is like a
personal trainer orknowledgeable with fitness,
especially since the pregnantbody poses some different needs
(27:27):
and certain risks.
To work with a fitnessprofessional is definitely wise,
even just to get some goodbasics of your training, but
your body will only thank youfor it.
And then, from a nutritionalaspect, just having some like
minimum standards of what livesin your house from a food
standpoint, making sure you'regetting servings of fruits and
(27:49):
vegetables every single day inyour diet, and then high protein
throughout your pregnancy.
It's recommended probablyaround 100 grams of protein a
day, but everybody's proteinneeds are super different from
person to person.
So you can work with aregistered dietitian to figure
out exactly what your needs are.
But your body needs protein tobuild the little human that
(28:10):
you're creating and then also tobuild new tissue and recover
afterwards for yourself.
So making sure that protein isa priority.
I think that's one of thehardest nutritional shifts that
moms make, because usually thegrab and go stuff is pretty
processed and low in protein.
So that would be my biggerrecommendation for that.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
And if someone is like me in terms of like the
struggle after, perhaps, anunexpected or traumatic birth,
what first step or what advicewould you give for someone
that's just still in survivalmode, just trying to get started
?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, yeah, that's really.
It's a hard place to be in.
I think we've all just feltlike we're in the woods those
first few weeks of motherhoodand even if it's your second,
third, fourth child, again,there's so many variables at
birth that can sometimes be outof your control and you just
have to surrender and moveforward.
But I think, having aconversation with your partner
(29:10):
and painting some solid yellowlines in your schedule as to
where you can get some time foryour fitness Once you're clear
for exercise postpartum, put itin the calendar like it's a
business meeting.
I go to the gym on these threedays and the sky better be
falling for me to move it around, because it would be what?
(29:33):
Like three hours out of yourweek.
But you can.
If you have to do the workoutsfrom home, like to be around
your child, that's fine.
But just really creatingboundaries and the schedule and
the craziness when every dayfeels like just one long day all
strung together.
Setting some time aside foryourself to start creating those
(29:54):
rhythms again.
And I'm not talking about goingin and power lifting on day one
or going out and running a mile.
I'm talking about, even if it'sjust three times a week, you
get out for a nice long walk,just starting with what your
body can handle, again, workingwith a fitness professional to
try and build a program that istailoring to your needs.
But put it on the calendar Maketime for yourself.
(30:17):
Nobody else is going to do it,but you'll be so thankful that
you did and I think even yourfamily, like your partner, will
be thankful too because, there'sa healthier mom, there's a
healthier spouse that they getto see every day, knowing that
they've had time to refill theircup.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
I also, like with our program, how it was incremental
.
It wasn't all at once, becausethat would have felt really
overwhelming, but now, like now,we started, I think, with one
day and then we added anotherday and another day, and that
made it seem so much more doable.
I want to shift gears a littlebit and talk about the
(30:54):
relationship with Bea and howthat changed when you were
spending more time together, andone story that really sticks in
my head about this is that Iremember you saying that after a
while that you had spent timewith her, she started crying
when you left again, and itwasn't like that always.
(31:17):
So can you share a little bitmore about that and why you
think that was?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Yeah, super good question.
I have a sciencey brain sowhenever I hear statistics that
actually wakes me up a bit.
But I heard this statistic thatthe first three years of a
child's life are critical fordeveloping healthy attachment to
adult figures in their life.
And having a primary attachmentfigure for that first three
(31:45):
years of life usually it's themom or the primary parent it
dramatically decreases theirrisk for mental illness and
dramatically increases theirability to be an emotionally
healthy person as an adult andhave confidence and just all
(32:08):
these key skills that actuallyget laid down in infancy of a
child's life.
I started realizing, probablyabout a year into being back to
work, that when I would drop heroff for child care she would
not cry.
Sometimes she would actuallywave.
And then when she startedsaying where she would just go
bye and I was like hold on, thisfeels a little odd.
(32:31):
I know you're a prettyversatile kid, but this seems a
little too mellow.
And it was right after Istarted noticing that that I
heard that statistic about thefirst three years of their life.
And so we're going on likealmost 18 months with our child
and she doesn't even realize, inmy opinion, that I was her
primary attachment figure I wassupposed to be so that was that
(32:53):
scared me.
I was like whoa OK.
Once I made the shift to beingat home with her more, I noticed
that when I would leave shewould start crying and most
people would think, oh man, youwent backward.
But actually that was a hugewin and like redeeming moment
for me Because I realized Godhad saved that attachment, that
(33:16):
healthy attachment between meand her.
Yeah, she's definitely anattached little girl, but she's
also extremely independent.
She was an early walker, earlytalker.
She has very intense, finemotor skills for her age and I
think that just comes with achild's confidence in their
(33:36):
safety and that they know thattheir needs are going to be
provided for so they can developtheir milestones much more
confidently.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
One of the other things that I remember you
mentioning is that you werereally happy with the child care
, similar to your job.
It's a family member andsomeone that loves her, that's
providing care for her, but youstill had this desire in your
heart for it to be you more.
Even if it's someone that youlove and care about and that
(34:05):
loves and cares for your child,sometimes there's still that
pull from you to want to be theone that gets to see all the
little moments.
Can you share, maybe somethingthat was really meaningful, that
you were able to now witness,that you wouldn't have perhaps
witnessed?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah, one story jumps out immediately to me.
This is just a couple monthsago actually, but I took my
friend's parents to the airportand I'm home with Thea, so
Thea's coming with us.
So we went out to the airportand it was like an hour drive.
And so after we'd gotten to theairport, Faye was like over her
car seat.
She's like get me out of thiscar.
(34:44):
So I decided to just go to theStarbucks near the airport and
we went and we got a hotchocolate and I got my little
latte and we just sat there nextto the windows and watched all
the airplanes fly right over theparking lot and she was just
like having the absolute time ofher life.
(35:04):
We're literally sitting in Idon't know a seedy Starbucks
drinking overpriced hotchocolate.
But it was just such a tendermoment to me that on a random
Tuesday morning I'm watchingthese airplanes with my daughter
and she's just so excited to bein my presence.
I'm so excited to be in herpresence and those so excited to
be in her presence, and thoseare the things that I was
(35:25):
missing, Like my sister-in-lawwho was watching her and my
mother-in-law who was watchingher while I was at work.
They would document themilestones, no problem.
If she said a new word, I'd begetting the text message almost
in real time.
But it's those little momentsthat, honestly, that's what
motherhood is all about.
You just don't realize how muchthose little moments of sitting
(35:49):
in starbucks with a little hotchocolate watching the airplanes
.
You just don't realize how muchthat's gonna mean to you I
totally agree.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
When I think about my favorite moments of my kids,
that's exactly what comes tomind, just the really small
moments that just happen ineveryday life that I think I was
so close to giving it up.
Yeah, because of all thepressures that people give it up
and it's no judgment to someonethat right now is in that space
I just want this podcast to bereally encouraging.
(36:19):
Not about okay, if I don't getto spend those moments with my
child, it means I'm giving upmotherhood or not being a good
enough mom, because that's notthe purpose of it.
It's just an encouragement ifyou do want it.
How do we get there and how?
What changes do we have to make?
What sacrifices do you have tomake?
And you have to make manysacrifices before knowing the
(36:43):
full picture, like I was therewith house selling and that was
in a walk in the park.
That's a whole other thing.
I so appreciate you beingwilling to share.
Is there anything else thatcomes to you that you want to
share or any encouragement thatyou want to give someone that is
really struggling with thisdecision, might want to do
(37:06):
something similar but justdoesn't know what's coming next
or maybe doesn't have ideas forhow to start a business, yeah
yeah, no, I think it's.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
If it's on your heart again, just that statistic of
those first three years and thatI had already lost like half of
that was the wake-up call thatI needed to really put some
things in motion and light afire under me to develop that
skill set that I have.
And I would just encourage,like anybody who feels that they
(37:41):
want that freedom, that it's soworth the sacrifices.
It's worth not getting that newcar.
It's worth downsizing your home.
You can do so much with a smallspace but with more time to be
actually in that space with yourchildren, it's just
immeasurably more important, inmy opinion.
(38:03):
With your children, it's justimmeasurably more important, in
my opinion.
And that doesn't mean that forthe mom who's the neurosurgeon
that has to be at the hospitalfor X amount of hours, that
doesn't mean that yourmotherhood calling is any less
valuable in the way that you'redoing it.
It's just a different style.
So I think there's a lot ofwomen who are looking for this
kind of style of working foryourself and setting your own
(38:24):
schedule and calling the shotson how much you want to grow or
not.
Yeah, there needs to be more ofa conversation of how do we
make this happen?
And so, yeah, I would saydevelop your skill set.
Find a of someone who canmentor you, who's started their
own business before, and thenjust get really creative with it
.
Find ways to include yourchildren in the whole process.
(38:46):
Don't be afraid of bringingyour kids to things.
It's a training moment for themas much as it is for even the
other people around you, whowill be so inspired that your
children are there learning fromyou, learning in real time what
it means to be a helpful memberof society.
I think it's really beautiful.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
What dreams are you holding space for in this next
season, as you continue to growyour business, grow your family?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
So dreams that I'm holding space for such a good
question.
I would say there are very fewthings that get me excited and
light my soul on fire likeseeing women come into their
birth space confidently.
So really just being able toflesh that out and I'm excited
(39:36):
to hear the testimonies of womenthat I continue to work with
just sharing birth experiencewith me and just excited to see
how God uses us to help themhopefully have a birth of their
dreams and then, if it didn't goquite as planned, how to get
back on track and just feel morelike themselves again.
(39:57):
But now, with this beautifulpart of themselves that has now
come alive, and being a mom andlearning how to juggle all of it
, it's a really fun space to bea part of.
I love it.
So, I think, just being able tomeet more women and see where
this business goes again, I'mjust committed to holding it so
(40:18):
open-handed and see where Godwants to take it.
It's up to him.
He's in the driver's seat andI'm just along for the ride, but
so far it's been great.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
And a funny story that I think speaks to how
passionate you are about this,the space that you're in and
what you do is.
I remember the first time I metyou it was at a mutual friend's
birthday party their child'sbirthday party.
So this was the first time Iwas meeting Hannah formally
because we found out we had met,but this was the first time
(40:48):
that we actually had our firstconversation, I would say, and I
was telling her that I wasconsidering a home birth for my
next I wasn't pregnant oranything, but just mentioned
that and she invited me forcoffee to hear all about her mid
story and we were completestrangers mostly at that time.
So I think that just goes toshow just how passionate you are
(41:10):
about that and just how yougenuinely care and you're so
into that space and you want tosee moms succeed and be able to
get to their goals.
So if people want to work withyou, what's the best way to
reach you or just to followalong in your journey?
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Yeah, so I'm officially on social media now.
So my business name is LovelyNine Months I think the title
goes without saying, but followme on social media on Instagram
and Facebook now.
So, very proud of myself, Ifinally got that done and
checked off that box but it'sbeen fun, Amazing.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
And what right now?
What kind of ways can moms work?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
with you.
Yeah, so I do personal training.
I can do it in person or remote, but I prefer in person.
I want to see you and hug youand hang out with your babies,
if you want, and then I donutrition coaching as, and hug
you and hang out with yourbabies if you want, and then I
do nutrition coaching as well,and that can most certainly be
remote if it needs to be, but,yeah, amazing.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Well, hannah, thank you once again for sharing.
I have loved, as your friend,watching all of this unfold and
I'm so, so excited to see whatcomes next and all the amazing
things that come in yourmotherhood journey and in your
business journey.
For today's episode takeaways,I have six.
One obedience often comesbefore the provision.
Hannah's decision to leave herjob was a step of faith and
(42:39):
models, trusting that God willprovide when we walk in
obedience.
Two downsizing can lead to moreroom for the things that matter
.
By letting go of a home that nolonger served their season,
hannah gained time, support anda multi-generational village.
Three slow business growth is apowerful act of intentionality.
(43:02):
Hannah's wellness and coachingbusiness grew through word of
mouth, rooted in faith andalignment with her family.
Rhythm, not hustle.
Sometimes moms are hesitant tostart businesses because of the
fear of being overwhelmed on analready busy season.
Hannah provides an example ofhow a business can be grown
(43:23):
slowly and controlled withintentionality.
Four postpartum fitness andnutrition is essential and
practical.
Hannah shares that one of themost effective and realistic
fitness strategies forpostpartum moms is to build in
gentle movement during the day,such as walking or floor
exercises with your baby nearby.
She also emphasizes theimportance of rebuilding protein
(43:45):
intake, aiming for around 30grams of protein per meal to
support postpartum recovery,energy levels and hormone
balance.
Five little moments matter.
From hot chocolate dates towatching airplanes with her
toddler, hannah reminds us thatsome of the most precious
moments of motherhood happen inthe margins.
Sometimes, starting a businessis the best way to make sure we
(44:08):
are not missing these moments.
Six you don't have to bury yourgifts.
Motherhood doesn't meanabandoning your talents.
It might be the exact time todevelop them in a way that works
for your family.
That's it for today's episode.
Thank you for spending thistime with me.
I know how valuable your timeis and I hope you're walking
(44:28):
away feeling encouraged to dreama little bigger about what's
possible for your work andfamily life.
If this episode spoke to you,it would mean so much if you
shared it with another mom whoneeds this kind of encouragement
.
Make sure to subscribe so younever miss an episode, and if
you want to keep theconversation going, connect with
me on LinkedIn.
Just search Emilia Cotto.
(44:49):
That's E-M-I-L-I-A, c-o-t-o.
Until next time, remember,motherhood isn't the end of your
dreams.
It's just the beginning.
Today's guest is Hannah DeWaar.
Hannah is the owner of LovelyNine Months, which is a fitness
and nutrition coaching company,and she specializes in helping
moms through pregnancy andpostpartum.
As a current client of Hannah's, I can attest to how amazing
she is in that role.
But today we're going to betalking about the shift that
(00:24):
happened before she started hercompany and how she made certain
sacrifices and decisions inorder to get there and
prioritize motherhood.
Welcome to Little Hands BakePlans, the podcast for moms who
want to reimagine work afterkids and build a life where
(00:45):
family comes first, withoutgiving up your dreams.
I'm Emilia and I know firsthandhow much motherhood shifts our
careers, our priorities and ourpace.
But instead of seeing it as asetback, what if we saw it as an
invitation, an opportunity todesign a life with a little more
freedom, a little more presenceand a little more fulfillment?
(01:07):
Each week, we'll have honestconversations with moms who've
shaped their work and businessaround what truly matters.
Whether you're considering acareer pivot, dreaming of a
slower pace or just wonderingwhat's possible, you're in the
right place.
So grab a little something warm, settle in and let's explore
the possibilities together.
(01:27):
Okay, hannah, so let's talk alittle bit about what your
career looked before you hadbabies, and we're going to be
talking about a career shiftthat happened after your first
baby, so tell me about what itwas like before yeah, so I was
(01:52):
working for a chiropractor as achiropractic assistant doing
some front desk work for them,but really they helped me get
launched into more of the careerof nutrition, super supportive
of that journey.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So I just I thank God for them all the time, just for
really getting me into thisfield of nutrition coaching and
just preventative wellnessreally, but it just wasn't super
conducive to my family'sschedule and whatnot.
So that's what kind of set usup for the bigger shift.
(02:30):
But, yeah, that space was sucha beautiful launch pad for me
and I got to work with patientsright from the get-go so I had a
lot of learning experience thatI probably wouldn't have gotten
if I had just started out on myown, because I was able to do
some like advanced nutritiontesting with patients and that
was just a huge learningexperience for me, really
(02:52):
setting me up today for theknowledge that I have now.
So I'm really thankful for that.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
What would your day typically look like?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Before we had my daughter we were living about 35
40 minutes away, so we movedour whole life out closer to
that place of work.
So my commute was only about 15minutes, but our child care was
still out 35 40 minutes away.
So once we had Thea it got alittle bit hairy, especially on
(03:26):
the days where my husband wasn'table to drop her off because
our schedules were so differentand my start time was often
later than his, so I would driveher out for childcare and then
back to my place of work.
That could be the better partof two hours.
Just dropping her off forchildcare could be the better
part of two hours just droppingher off for child care.
(03:47):
So that's where it added quitea bit of strain to the schedule,
on top of already working fulltime.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
And you kept your job after she was born.
So how did you plan formaternity leave after Thea?
How young was she when she wentback?
And then what eventuallyprompted you to say I'm just
gonna change a little bit?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
yeah, that's another thing about my job that I was
super thankful for when I waspregnant with Thea and planning
to be a mom.
They were so supportive andthey were very supportive of
even breastfeeding journey andjust making sure I was set up
for success in that regard.
So that was really nice.
They allowed me to take a goodmaternity leave as well.
(04:28):
But going back to work, youjust don't know what you don't
know, and I always tell momspregnant with their first just
be prepared for your prioritiesto shift.
Things that seemed reallyimportant before or things that
you were expecting to jugglebefore all of a sudden don't
have as big of importance, andthat doesn't mean that they were
(04:49):
bad in the previous season, butfor the new season ahead you
might have to shift some things.
I took about eight weeks ofmaternity leave and then, coming
back to work, I was stillprobably around 32 hours, so I
was still working full-time.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
And then, what kind of things did you do to keep the
breastfeeding relationshipgoing as you returned to work?
Did you pump every three hours,or how did you juggle that?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I was thankful because, again, they were super
supportive of that and they'rereally well known in the
community for helping be asupportive role in a mom's
journey if she decides tobreastfeed.
I did have opportunity to pumpas much as I needed to and that
was really helpful.
And then any waking hour that Iwas with her, we were together.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
So our attachment was still pretty strong, I would
say, granted for the amount oftime that we were apart, usually
during the day, and I know thateventually you made the
courageous choice to step backfrom your previous career a
little bit, and I know a lot ofthat was motivated because you
wanted to spend more time withthem and be able to lean into
(06:01):
your motherhood journey a littlebit more.
How did you go about planningthat?
What gave you the courage toactually take that leap without
knowing exactly what was next?
Or many moms have financialfears in terms of, okay, I'm
leaving a career, I need myincome to also provide for my
(06:22):
family.
How do I go about doing that?
How did you mentally come upwith that choice and what
practical steps did you take tobe able to prepare for that leap
?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah.
So those are good questions.
There's a lot to unpack there.
I guess I will say this I can'tspeak highly enough of where I
came from prior to becoming amom.
They did everything theyabsolutely could to set me up
for success and to be able tohopefully continue working there
, but logistically it justdidn't work.
(06:54):
For our family it was.
I love them to death.
But ultimately I had to decidelogistically if I'm spending two
hours in a car just to drop mychild off at child care and then
going to work a job, that I'mjust paying for the child care
and we're not actually gettingahead financially as a family
just to say that I can go towork and work a schedule that
(07:16):
was really demanding for mementally and physically
demanding for my daughter.
It's just that the pros weren'tweighing out the cons anymore.
For my daughter, it's just thatthe pros weren't weighing out
the cons anymore.
And then I think too, as aperson of faith the longer you
(07:36):
go in your journey with the Lord, the more you realize how
costly it is to live indisobedience.
My life wouldn't have beendisobedient if I had continued
working that schedule andcontinued arranging child care
for my daughter and living thatfamily rhythm.
As long as I was healthy andglorifying the Lord, then that
would have been fine.
But for our family, I started torealize that I was living in
(07:59):
disobedience because I wasn'thonoring my highest calling,
which was, first and foremost,to nurture my family and
disciple my child as a discipleof Jesus.
We had to ask ourselves sometough questions the finances
more important than beingobedient to God?
And when God asks you to beobedient to him, he knows what
(08:22):
our needs are.
So that was the thing that wehad to tell ourselves is, if
he's asking us to do this, thenhe knows that we have a young
mouth to feed.
He knows that right.
He doesn't show you how he'sgoing to provide until you say
yes and start taking that firststep.
So I think that's just what wehad to decide is are we going to
(08:54):
be obedient or are we going toplay it safe?
Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I have so many more questions to follow up on that.
Up on that.
I know that you took somepretty bold steps in terms of
not knowing really what wascoming next when you made the
decision of following inobedience and deciding that you
were going to step back fromyour job in your personal life.
(09:20):
What other steps did you takefrom there once you decided,
okay, I'm going to do this andfor someone that might be
listening and wondering, okay, Iwant to do this too.
What came next?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah.
So I think my naturalinclination when God asked me to
step back from my job was okay,you have to give my husband a
raise.
When that didn't happen rightaway, I was like, okay, god's
not a liar and he's asking me todo this and he claims he's
going to sustain me in it, butwhat do I need to do to be an
(09:56):
active participant in what he'sasking me to do?
And I realized he was asking meto start developing certain
skills that I was sitting onjust because I was going to my
job and checking off the boxesand being a good employee.
But there were things that Godhad been stirring in me for
years of being a business ownerand really being able to cast my
(10:20):
own vision in the wellnessspace.
Cast my own vision in thewellness space.
I think that was another layerof obedience that God was asking
of me was.
There's that story in the Biblewhere, like, a wealthy man gives
one person like five talents,and then one person ten talents
and then one person one, and thepeople with five and ten
(10:42):
talents they go and invest themoney and do something with it
and then the one person who hadthis one little piece of money,
just buried it, basically.
And I felt so convicted that Ihad basically just been sitting
on these gifts that God hadgiven me, but I wasn't
developing them.
And God was like, hello, I'vegiven you this dream and now
(11:05):
you're being a bad steward withit, like I created you before
the dawn of time with thisspecific skill set that I want
you to develop.
And if you don't do it, thenwho else?
So I was very convicted by that, and when I said yes and
started developing these skillsand starting to build this
business, kind of one brick at atime, I realized oh my word,
(11:27):
god's going to provide theincome that we need, but also
give me this abundance of timeto spend with my daughter, right
?
So that was the big wake-upcall for me, was I don't need to
just throw my giftings to thewind for the long season of
motherhood, but God is going togive me some strategies on how I
can use them creatively so thatI can have ability to
(11:53):
contribute to the family incomebut also not sacrifice the
health of my daughter and thehealth of my family.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I'm so excited because I think it'll be fun to
talk about your business andwhat you're doing now and some
postpartum nutrition tips, whichwill be really fun.
But in the meantime, I alsowant to step back and go through
your huge decision to downsizeyour home, to have that sort of
(12:23):
financial freedom to be able topursue and start your business.
Can you walk us through thatprocess and what that meant for
you?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, that was a big logistical mountain was having
this home in an area that wewere shifting away from career
wise.
We moved out there because myhusband was working out there at
the time and I was working outthere at the time, and now that
both of those jobs were done orending, we're like, wait, why
(12:52):
are we up so far away from ourfamily and all of our support?
And then we realized that wewere basically living in a house
, that we didn't need that muchspace, and so we just decided
you know what?
It's?
Just a house.
It was a lovely house, we lovedthat house, but it just
logistically was a bit of amountain in the way.
(13:13):
So I think we can get attachedto things that are really, in
the grand scheme of things, justthings.
So we currently are living withmy in-laws, as we've been just
in this huge, basicallyyear-long transition of shifting
and changing paths andrestructuring our family model.
But even that has been ablessing because we've been able
(13:35):
to parent multi-generationally.
Our culture is such a raritywhere you don't have more than
two generations living in a home.
Where you don't have more thantwo generations living in a home
, usually there's three andthere's so much wisdom and
support and just wealth thatcomes from relational wealth,
that comes from having thegrandparents having a healthy
(13:58):
say in the family rhythms andthen the parenting of the
children.
So that has just been anindescribable gift to us,
because our daughter gets to getall this wisdom from not just
me and my limited young momperspective, but from a woman
who's raised five children.
So that's been such a huge gift.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
My little lovely newborn will be giving
commentary throughout as well.
Tell us a little bit more aboutyour business, and something
that I've loved in followingyour business journey is how
intentional you've been aboutgrowing it slowly, like, I think
.
A lot of the times you hearabout fast growth and how do you
grow and get more clients and Ijust love how you have been
(14:43):
just so intentional in terms ofthat growth.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So, yeah, yeah oh man , I am not really speaking from
a place of arrival, but verymuch in a season of journeying
through it, because I'm such acontrol freak and if this was
any other thing any other season, I know just I know myself I
(15:08):
know that I would have taken itand run way too fast.
But I think because it was suchan obedience move and from the
beginning God was calling me outon it like hey, what are you
doing that he's allowed me thisgrace to walk with it, so open
hand.
Yeah, I really haven't even beendoing much marketing on it
(15:29):
until recently, so all of myclientele has basically been
word of mouth and then divineconnections on being able to use
a facility for training myclients and whatnot.
I would say what I'm learningthrough that is when you are
walking with a God dream in yourhands.
Just keep your hands open andreally let the Lord grow it for
(15:53):
you, Just one day at a time.
It's okay if it doesn't fittraditional marketing strategies
or business strategies.
If you have a peace and youknow that you're walking in
obedience to the Lord, it willbe blessed.
And I think the whole purposeof scaling back and deciding to
(16:18):
work for myself was rooted inwanting to spend more time with
my daughter, so it would besilly to rush back into
something that would immediatelycause all the same problems
that I was trying to fix in thefirst place.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So that's been hopeful too, because you
mentioned, your natural tendencywould be to go.
Do you ever have days when youhave to fight that?
Or how do you stay grounded inthat all the time, when there is
sometimes, maybe, opportunitiesthat you have to say no, or
getting to a spot where youmight be struggling with the
same time struggles that youwere having for?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
yeah, I feel, wow, it's such a question, I think,
just gauging, really takinginventory of my heart.
Whenever I'm making a decisionor deciding to expand and try to
find a couple new clients, I'veasked myself am I doing this
(17:20):
because I feel like I need to,or am I doing this because God
is asking me to?
And basically boiling that downeven more would be am I doing
this from a spirit of strivingor am I doing this from a place
of grace?
I think you can feel, and as afellow business owner, when you
go through seasons where youjust feel like you're pushing a
(17:44):
boulder uphill for months andmonths at a time and then in
hindsight you realize thatwasn't even it.
Like I thought I was in agrowth season, but I was really
in an infrastructure season.
Yeah, and God is outside ofspace and time.
He knows if it's a growthseason or an infrastructure
season or whatever the seasonmight be.
(18:06):
So, just spending quality timewe pray for things like
provisions and whatnot, but Ithink praying for divine
strategies and wisdom.
God is so faithful to providethat and really help you decide
what kind of a season yourbusiness is in and then if what
you're trying to accomplishdoesn't align with the season
(18:27):
that God has established foryour business, then you know
it's a no-go, like maybe we'lldo that next quarter or next
year, or five years, 10 years.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
But just being conscious and faithful to
staying in your lane and stayingin the season you're in is
crucial, or else you're burnoutright yeah, and I think a lot of
the times, the hardest thing istaking that first step, when
fear, I think, just keeps somany dreams and so many
(18:59):
potential relationships stuckbecause we're so afraid of the
change and we can get socomfortable where we're at.
If someone was to reach out toyou and be in a similar
situation, what advice would yougive in terms of getting over
that fear, but also thepractical steps like having had
(19:23):
downsized?
Do you feel that gave you moreroom for motherhood?
If you were to go back into theposition you were before, and
perhaps someone that might notbe as advanced in terms of, I
think, trusting God, someonethat might not be in that
journey yet?
What do they do?
How do they get started?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
someone that might not be in that journey yet.
What do they do?
How do they get started?
Yeah, I think, make sure youand your partner.
If you're a single mother orsingle parent listening to this,
then that's a differentconversation.
But if you are, praise the lord, partnered with somebody in
your parenting journey, makesure you're on the same page
with them.
Figure out what your financialgoals are.
Figure out what your spiritualgoals are.
Figure out what your spiritualgoals are.
For us, that was the number oneticket thing for making this
(20:07):
whole shift.
In the first place was Godcompletely turned the table over
on what our model of a biblicalfamily looked like, and it has
reached its arms and its fingersinto every aspect of our lives.
Like nothing has been offlimits and it's all lit.
Here's yet another thing thatwe're learning and relearning.
So definitely be on the samepage with your spouse.
(20:29):
Figure out what do you wantyour family to look like,
because if you don't have anidea of what it looks to win,
then you're not going to knowwhat you're aiming for right.
And then start developing yourskill set.
If you you're creative, get aCanva membership and start
building content that only livesinside of your brain and just
get really good at creatingcontent and sell it.
(20:50):
Or if you've got a specificskill set or you've got this
degree that seems super random,figure out how you can develop
those skill sets a little bitmore and then market them to be
beneficial for your family.
You read about the Proverbs 31woman in the Bible, and she's
not idle by any means.
(21:11):
She's so valuable to her family.
She's like the COO of her house.
She's not just sitting at homelike eating bonbons.
She's got this amazing skillset.
She's creative, she's good withmoney.
She's such a blessing to thecommunity, even to the people
who work in her household.
She gets up before it's lightout and prepares food for even
(21:32):
her servants.
So even the people that areunderneath her, the people that
are eventually maybe going to beworking for you, are blessed by
you.
So by no means does it meanthat as a mom, you should be
sitting on your skill set, butthere's a way to partner with
the Lord and get reallystrategic with it, so that way
you don't have to choose yourskill set or your kid.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yes, and that I think because I'm in so many Facebook
mom groups and I always seethis question asked of people
that want to spend more timewith their kids.
Because even the really amazingjobs that like it sounds like
you were in such a supportiveenvironment but there's still
(22:10):
limits in terms of what you canget in a job, versus when you're
building a business, whereyou're literally building it
around motherhood and aroundyour kids.
It's nothing against employers,it's just there's so only so
much they can do because they'restill also running a business.
So I feel like if a mom canstart a business, it's the
(22:33):
ultimate flexibility becauseyou're building it around your
priorities.
And it's amazing because, as afellow believer, I know that God
gives gifts to everyone andeveryone has gifts that they
could contribute to not onlytheir family but the world, and
so often it feels if it's notsomething really traditional,
(22:55):
then we just sit on it.
A lot of people sit on it and Ilove that.
I really think that's such agood, encouraging thing to think
about.
Even if you have a job andyou're on maternity leave and
wondering if it might change,pregnancy is like a wonderful
time to expand on that andimprove and I feel like too,
(23:18):
moms who have contemplatedanything of this topic.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
they are going to be your best marketers.
Yes, there is nothing that makesme happier than seeing another
mom just go after something thatmakes them happy but also
allows them to be at home withtheir child.
And those are the moms that getit.
I'm in the wellness space, I'ma personal trainer, I'm a
nutrition coach.
I don't care if you bring yourchild to your workout because I
(23:44):
get it.
I'm in the wellness space, I'ma personal trainer, I'm a
nutrition coach.
I don't care if you bring yourchild to your workout because I
get it.
I wouldn't want to leave my kidat home either or say you don't
even have the option.
So I think more and more momswho are supporting other moms
that are just figuring this outand using their skill set to
bless other people and blesstheir family.
And sure, just join the party,we'll get creative.
(24:05):
Well, you can hold the littleone pound weight and do little
bicep curls with it while we doour workout.
It's fine.
And you just don't get thatfrom the traditional nine to
five.
You're going to have to accountfor who's watching the child
and then you're going to have tolikely pay for that child care.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Most people don't have family who can full-time
watch your child for free and,as your current client, that has
been such a blessing because Ido and have very velcro like
kids that just stick to me atall times and I haven't been
able to go back to a gym.
I didn't feel like I could, Ididn't necessarily feel welcome.
A lot of places have the childcare but the child care is far
so I would not be able toconcentrate on my workout and
(24:52):
just going to work out with youand knowing that I can bring
them there is actually huge ingetting me there.
So I'm a current client ofHannah's.
She does nutrition coaching andpersonal fitness and she has
been really amazing in terms ofmy recovery, I'm gonna say, from
(25:12):
my second child birth and Iwill share more about my birth
story on a different day.
But I had a c-section, feltsuper broken and just I'm so
happy.
It's amazing how we werefriends before but we hadn't
talked about if I would becomeyour client or anything like
that, and if you hadn't donethat, I probably wouldn't even I
(25:34):
wouldn't have looked for it, Idon't think because I was just
in such a broken space that Ihad to have that connection with
you, like I had to have thatfrom before to feel like I could
be vulnerable and be able toeven get to a space where I felt
okay, training and just all the, all my struggles man, so the
(25:57):
most humbling time justpregnancy and childbirth.
It's so vulnerable, yeah, andyou don't know what you
vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah, and you don't know what you don't know, and
you also don't know what kind ofcards you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
What are some easy things that moms can do during
their pregnancy and postpartumjourney to help their bodies
prepare for childbirth and thenrecover after?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, super good questions.
Really loaded questions too.
I'll try to just pick the mostpractical things.
I think getting started with afitness regimen of some kind
during pregnancy is huge.
Your body will be so thankfulfor the birth experience that
you'll have.
It dramatically increases yourchance of a vaginal birth and
(26:43):
then decreases your likelihoodof gestational diabetes.
Hypertension decreases chancesof a c-section.
Of course, there's a lot ofother variables in play, but if
you're getting yourself ashealthy as possible for birth
and for the postpartum recoveryprocess, your body will only be
thankful for it.
You're only doing yourself afavor.
(27:03):
Something as simple as liftingweights two to three times a
week and then maybe doing somewalking, just very light
cardiovascular exercise in thereas well Huge, very huge.
I think it's important to workwith somebody who is like a
personal trainer orknowledgeable with fitness,
especially since the pregnantbody poses some different needs
(27:27):
and certain risks.
To work with a fitnessprofessional is definitely wise,
even just to get some goodbasics of your training, but
your body will only thank youfor it.
And then, from a nutritionalaspect, just having some like
minimum standards of what livesin your house from a food
standpoint, making sure you'regetting servings of fruits and
(27:49):
vegetables every single day inyour diet, and then high protein
throughout your pregnancy.
It's recommended probablyaround 100 grams of protein a
day, but everybody's proteinneeds are super different from
person to person.
So you can work with aregistered dietitian to figure
out exactly what your needs are.
But your body needs protein tobuild the little human that
(28:10):
you're creating and then also tobuild new tissue and recover
afterwards for yourself.
So making sure that protein isa priority.
I think that's one of thehardest nutritional shifts that
moms make, because usually thegrab and go stuff is pretty
processed and low in protein.
So that would be my biggerrecommendation for that.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
And if someone is like me in terms of like the
struggle after, perhaps, anunexpected or traumatic birth,
what first step or what advicewould you give for someone
that's just still in survivalmode, just trying to get started
?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, yeah, that's really.
It's a hard place to be in.
I think we've all just feltlike we're in the woods those
first few weeks of motherhoodand even if it's your second,
third, fourth child, again,there's so many variables at
birth that can sometimes be outof your control and you just
have to surrender and moveforward.
But I think, having aconversation with your partner
(29:10):
and painting some solid yellowlines in your schedule as to
where you can get some time foryour fitness Once you're clear
for exercise postpartum, put itin the calendar like it's a
business meeting.
I go to the gym on these threedays and the sky better be
falling for me to move it around, because it would be what?
(29:33):
Like three hours out of yourweek.
But you can.
If you have to do the workoutsfrom home, like to be around
your child, that's fine.
But just really creatingboundaries and the schedule and
the craziness when every dayfeels like just one long day all
strung together.
Setting some time aside foryourself to start creating those
(29:54):
rhythms again.
And I'm not talking about goingin and power lifting on day one
or going out and running a mile.
I'm talking about, even if it'sjust three times a week, you
get out for a nice long walk,just starting with what your
body can handle, again, workingwith a fitness professional to
try and build a program that istailoring to your needs.
But put it on the calendar Maketime for yourself.
(30:17):
Nobody else is going to do it,but you'll be so thankful that
you did and I think even yourfamily, like your partner, will
be thankful too because, there'sa healthier mom, there's a
healthier spouse that they getto see every day, knowing that
they've had time to refill theircup.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
I also, like with our program, how it was incremental
.
It wasn't all at once, becausethat would have felt really
overwhelming, but now, like now,we started, I think, with one
day and then we added anotherday and another day, and that
made it seem so much more doable.
I want to shift gears a littlebit and talk about the
(30:54):
relationship with Bea and howthat changed when you were
spending more time together, andone story that really sticks in
my head about this is that Iremember you saying that after a
while that you had spent timewith her, she started crying
when you left again, and itwasn't like that always.
(31:17):
So can you share a little bitmore about that and why you
think that was?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Yeah, super good question.
I have a sciencey brain sowhenever I hear statistics that
actually wakes me up a bit.
But I heard this statistic thatthe first three years of a
child's life are critical fordeveloping healthy attachment to
adult figures in their life.
And having a primary attachmentfigure for that first three
(31:45):
years of life usually it's themom or the primary parent it
dramatically decreases theirrisk for mental illness and
dramatically increases theirability to be an emotionally
healthy person as an adult andhave confidence and just all
(32:08):
these key skills that actuallyget laid down in infancy of a
child's life.
I started realizing, probablyabout a year into being back to
work, that when I would drop heroff for child care she would
not cry.
Sometimes she would actuallywave.
And then when she startedsaying where she would just go
bye and I was like hold on, thisfeels a little odd.
(32:31):
I know you're a prettyversatile kid, but this seems a
little too mellow.
And it was right after Istarted noticing that that I
heard that statistic about thefirst three years of their life.
And so we're going on likealmost 18 months with our child
and she doesn't even realize, inmy opinion, that I was her
primary attachment figure I wassupposed to be so that was that
(32:53):
scared me.
I was like whoa OK.
Once I made the shift to beingat home with her more, I noticed
that when I would leave shewould start crying and most
people would think, oh man, youwent backward.
But actually that was a hugewin and like redeeming moment
for me Because I realized Godhad saved that attachment, that
(33:16):
healthy attachment between meand her.
Yeah, she's definitely anattached little girl, but she's
also extremely independent.
She was an early walker, earlytalker.
She has very intense, finemotor skills for her age and I
think that just comes with achild's confidence in their
(33:36):
safety and that they know thattheir needs are going to be
provided for so they can developtheir milestones much more
confidently.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
One of the other things that I remember you
mentioning is that you werereally happy with the child care
, similar to your job.
It's a family member andsomeone that loves her, that's
providing care for her, but youstill had this desire in your
heart for it to be you more.
Even if it's someone that youlove and care about and that
(34:05):
loves and cares for your child,sometimes there's still that
pull from you to want to be theone that gets to see all the
little moments.
Can you share, maybe somethingthat was really meaningful, that
you were able to now witness,that you wouldn't have perhaps
witnessed?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah, one story jumps out immediately to me.
This is just a couple monthsago actually, but I took my
friend's parents to the airportand I'm home with Thea, so
Thea's coming with us.
So we went out to the airportand it was like an hour drive.
And so after we'd gotten to theairport, Faye was like over her
car seat.
She's like get me out of thiscar.
(34:44):
So I decided to just go to theStarbucks near the airport and
we went and we got a hotchocolate and I got my little
latte and we just sat there nextto the windows and watched all
the airplanes fly right over theparking lot and she was just
like having the absolute time ofher life.
(35:04):
We're literally sitting in Idon't know a seedy Starbucks
drinking overpriced hotchocolate.
But it was just such a tendermoment to me that on a random
Tuesday morning I'm watchingthese airplanes with my daughter
and she's just so excited to bein my presence.
I'm so excited to be in herpresence and those so excited to
be in her presence, and thoseare the things that I was
(35:25):
missing, Like my sister-in-lawwho was watching her and my
mother-in-law who was watchingher while I was at work.
They would document themilestones, no problem.
If she said a new word, I'd begetting the text message almost
in real time.
But it's those little momentsthat, honestly, that's what
motherhood is all about.
You just don't realize how muchthose little moments of sitting
(35:49):
in starbucks with a little hotchocolate watching the airplanes
.
You just don't realize how muchthat's gonna mean to you I
totally agree.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
When I think about my favorite moments of my kids,
that's exactly what comes tomind, just the really small
moments that just happen ineveryday life that I think I was
so close to giving it up.
Yeah, because of all thepressures that people give it up
and it's no judgment to someonethat right now is in that space
I just want this podcast to bereally encouraging.
(36:19):
Not about okay, if I don't getto spend those moments with my
child, it means I'm giving upmotherhood or not being a good
enough mom, because that's notthe purpose of it.
It's just an encouragement ifyou do want it.
How do we get there and how?
What changes do we have to make?
What sacrifices do you have tomake?
And you have to make manysacrifices before knowing the
(36:43):
full picture, like I was therewith house selling and that was
in a walk in the park.
That's a whole other thing.
I so appreciate you beingwilling to share.
Is there anything else thatcomes to you that you want to
share or any encouragement thatyou want to give someone that is
really struggling with thisdecision, might want to do
(37:06):
something similar but justdoesn't know what's coming next
or maybe doesn't have ideas forhow to start a business, yeah
yeah, no, I think it's.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
If it's on your heart again, just that statistic of
those first three years and thatI had already lost like half of
that was the wake-up call thatI needed to really put some
things in motion and light afire under me to develop that
skill set that I have.
And I would just encourage,like anybody who feels that they
(37:41):
want that freedom, that it's soworth the sacrifices.
It's worth not getting that newcar.
It's worth downsizing your home.
You can do so much with a smallspace but with more time to be
actually in that space with yourchildren, it's just
immeasurably more important, inmy opinion.
(38:03):
With your children, it's justimmeasurably more important, in
my opinion.
And that doesn't mean that forthe mom who's the neurosurgeon
that has to be at the hospitalfor X amount of hours, that
doesn't mean that yourmotherhood calling is any less
valuable in the way that you'redoing it.
It's just a different style.
So I think there's a lot ofwomen who are looking for this
kind of style of working foryourself and setting your own
(38:24):
schedule and calling the shotson how much you want to grow or
not.
Yeah, there needs to be more ofa conversation of how do we
make this happen?
And so, yeah, I would saydevelop your skill set.
Find a of someone who canmentor you, who's started their
own business before, and thenjust get really creative with it
.
Find ways to include yourchildren in the whole process.
(38:46):
Don't be afraid of bringingyour kids to things.
It's a training moment for themas much as it is for even the
other people around you, whowill be so inspired that your
children are there learning fromyou, learning in real time what
it means to be a helpful memberof society.
I think it's really beautiful.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
What dreams are you holding space for in this next
season, as you continue to growyour business, grow your family?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
So dreams that I'm holding space for such a good
question.
I would say there are very fewthings that get me excited and
light my soul on fire likeseeing women come into their
birth space confidently.
So really just being able toflesh that out and I'm excited
(39:36):
to hear the testimonies of womenthat I continue to work with
just sharing birth experiencewith me and just excited to see
how God uses us to help themhopefully have a birth of their
dreams and then, if it didn't goquite as planned, how to get
back on track and just feel morelike themselves again.
(39:57):
But now, with this beautifulpart of themselves that has now
come alive, and being a mom andlearning how to juggle all of it
, it's a really fun space to bea part of.
I love it.
So, I think, just being able tomeet more women and see where
this business goes again, I'mjust committed to holding it so
(40:18):
open-handed and see where Godwants to take it.
It's up to him.
He's in the driver's seat andI'm just along for the ride, but
so far it's been great.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
And a funny story that I think speaks to how
passionate you are about this,the space that you're in and
what you do is.
I remember the first time I metyou it was at a mutual friend's
birthday party their child'sbirthday party.
So this was the first time Iwas meeting Hannah formally
because we found out we had met,but this was the first time
(40:48):
that we actually had our firstconversation, I would say, and I
was telling her that I wasconsidering a home birth for my
next I wasn't pregnant oranything, but just mentioned
that and she invited me forcoffee to hear all about her mid
story and we were completestrangers mostly at that time.
So I think that just goes toshow just how passionate you are
(41:10):
about that and just how yougenuinely care and you're so
into that space and you want tosee moms succeed and be able to
get to their goals.
So if people want to work withyou, what's the best way to
reach you or just to followalong in your journey?
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Yeah, so I'm officially on social media now.
So my business name is LovelyNine Months I think the title
goes without saying, but followme on social media on Instagram
and Facebook now.
So, very proud of myself, Ifinally got that done and
checked off that box but it'sbeen fun, Amazing.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
And what right now?
What kind of ways can moms work?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
with you.
Yeah, so I do personal training.
I can do it in person or remote, but I prefer in person.
I want to see you and hug youand hang out with your babies,
if you want, and then I donutrition coaching as, and hug
you and hang out with yourbabies if you want, and then I
do nutrition coaching as well,and that can most certainly be
remote if it needs to be, but,yeah, amazing.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
Well, hannah, thank you once again for sharing.
I have loved, as your friend,watching all of this unfold and
I'm so, so excited to see whatcomes next and all the amazing
things that come in yourmotherhood journey and in your
business journey.
For today's episode takeaways,I have six.
One obedience often comesbefore the provision.
Hannah's decision to leave herjob was a step of faith and
(42:39):
models, trusting that God willprovide when we walk in
obedience.
Two downsizing can lead to moreroom for the things that matter
.
By letting go of a home that nolonger served their season,
hannah gained time, support anda multi-generational village.
Three slow business growth is apowerful act of intentionality.
(43:02):
Hannah's wellness and coachingbusiness grew through word of
mouth, rooted in faith andalignment with her family.
Rhythm, not hustle.
Sometimes moms are hesitant tostart businesses because of the
fear of being overwhelmed on analready busy season.
Hannah provides an example ofhow a business can be grown
(43:23):
slowly and controlled withintentionality.
Four postpartum fitness andnutrition is essential and
practical.
Hannah shares that one of themost effective and realistic
fitness strategies forpostpartum moms is to build in
gentle movement during the day,such as walking or floor
exercises with your baby nearby.
She also emphasizes theimportance of rebuilding protein
(43:45):
intake, aiming for around 30grams of protein per meal to
support postpartum recovery,energy levels and hormone
balance.
Five little moments matter.
From hot chocolate dates towatching airplanes with her
toddler, hannah reminds us thatsome of the most precious
moments of motherhood happen inthe margins.
Sometimes, starting a businessis the best way to make sure we
(44:08):
are not missing these moments.
Six you don't have to bury yourgifts.
Motherhood doesn't meanabandoning your talents.
It might be the exact time todevelop them in a way that works
for your family.
That's it for today's episode.
Thank you for spending thistime with me.
I know how valuable your timeis and I hope you're walking
(44:28):
away feeling encouraged to dreama little bigger about what's
possible for your work andfamily life.
If this episode spoke to you,it would mean so much if you
shared it with another mom whoneeds this kind of encouragement
.
Make sure to subscribe so younever miss an episode, and if
you want to keep theconversation going, connect with
me on LinkedIn.
Just search Emilia Cotto.
(44:49):
That's E-M-I-L-I-A, c-o-t-o.
Until next time, remember,motherhood isn't the end of your
dreams.
It's just the beginning.
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