3 Things Nobody Told Me About My Earning Potential as a Mom and Entrepreneur
Oct 05, 2026
When I found out I was pregnant, nobody sat me down and told me that becoming a mother was going to cost me money.
It wasn't that direct.
Instead, it showed up in the way people started talking about my future. There was this underlying assumption that having children meant I would naturally scale back my business, work less, and ultimately earn less.
And somewhere along the way, I started believing it.
I remember doing the math in my head, calculating what I thought I would realistically be able to earn once I became a mom. I had created this imaginary ceiling for myself, and it was significantly lower than what I'd believed was possible before having children.
Turns out, I was wrong.
Not a little bit wrong. Completely wrong.
Today, I earn more money than I ever did before becoming a mother. My ambition hasn't disappeared, my business has grown, and in many ways, motherhood has made me a better entrepreneur.
In a recent episode of This Mother Means Business, I shared three things I wish someone had told me about my earning potential before I became a mom.
Because if you're a woman entrepreneur who's wondering whether motherhood and profitable business growth can coexist, I want you to hear this.
Your ambition doesn't have to get smaller just because your family gets bigger.
1. Motherhood Didn't Shrink My Ambition. It Gave It Direction.
Before I had kids, I could afford to be busy.
When I owned my gym, I could work long hours, take on lower-margin activities, accommodate draining clients, and spend time on things that weren't necessarily generating revenue.
I had the availability, so I used it.
Motherhood changed that.
Suddenly, every hour I spent working came with additional considerations. If I needed to be at the gym, I needed childcare. If I was driving somewhere for a meeting, I needed to consider whether that meeting was actually worth the time, money, and effort involved.
I used to drive 20 minutes to my gym to meet prospective clients for an introductory appointment. Then I'd drive 20 minutes home.
Before kids? No big deal.
After having a baby? Suddenly, arranging a babysitter, pumping a bottle, driving to the gym, and potentially having someone not show up for that meeting seemed ridiculous.
It forced me to ask a question I probably should have been asking all along: Is this actually the best use of my time?
Eventually, someone else started handling those meetings.
And that was just one example of how motherhood changed my approach to business growth strategy.
Having fewer hours didn't automatically mean having less earning potential. It meant I needed to become much more intentional about where those hours went.
I became more focused on revenue-generating activities, delegation, and building a business that didn't require me to personally handle every single task.
Here's what I wish I'd understood earlier:
Focus isn't a consolation prize for having less time. Focus is a revenue strategy.
Today, I have a larger team than I've had in a long time. Even though my children are older and I have more flexibility, I know I couldn't manage everything happening in my business without them.
Motherhood helped me understand the importance of building something that could grow beyond my own availability.
And that shift has played a significant role in increasing my earning potential.
2. I Didn't Know I'd Get to Make Money With Other Mothers
This might be one of my favourite unexpected parts of building a business as a mom.
I get to work with other mothers.
And if you've ever worked with a team of women who are also navigating motherhood and entrepreneurship, you know there's a different level of understanding that comes with it.
When someone's child is home sick, nobody needs a lengthy explanation.
When one of my marketing team members chooses to work in the evening because she's spending the day with her kids, that's fine. I'll respond in the morning.
We understand each other's lives, and we build our working relationships around that reality.
But beyond the flexibility, there's something else I've noticed.
Mothers are some of the most efficient people I've ever worked with.
When you have three hours to get something done, you learn how to use those three hours.
You prioritize. You make decisions. You figure out what matters and what doesn't.
I've found that hiring mothers has been a genuine advantage in my business.
And there's another part of this that I absolutely love.
As my business grows, I get to create earning opportunities for other women.
I get to pay mothers who are building their own businesses, supporting their families, and pursuing their ambitions.
My earning potential creates opportunities for theirs.
I didn't realize that motherhood and entrepreneurship would introduce me to this incredible community of capable, ambitious women who genuinely want to see each other succeed.
Building a sustainable business doesn't have to mean doing everything alone.
Sometimes, the people who help you grow are women navigating the very same challenges you are.
3. Making Money Actually Became More Fun
This one surprised me.
When I was younger, money was often an abstract goal. It was a number I wanted to reach, something I was working toward, and probably, if I'm being truthful, something I used to measure my success.
Motherhood changed my relationship with earning.
Money became much more tangible.
It became experiences with my children. Opportunities I could give them. Trips we could take together.
We went to Banff last year and Halifax this year, and I'm hoping to plan something special with them for my 40th birthday.
These are the things that make earning money feel exciting to me now.
I'm not building a profitable business to compensate for being away from my children.
I'm building a business because I want to create a life for my family that feels full of possibility.
And I want to be part of that life, too.
I love that my business gives me the ability to create those experiences rather than waiting for someone else to make them possible.
My financial goals aren't disconnected from motherhood. They're deeply connected to the kind of life I want us to have.
And honestly? That makes earning money a whole lot more fun.
You Don't Have to Choose Between Being an Ambitious Woman and Being a Mother
I recently received a message from a fellow entrepreneur who had just found out she was pregnant.
She was panicking.
Rather than trying to respond to everything in her DMs, I asked if I could call her. We ended up spending 45 minutes talking about motherhood, entrepreneurship, and all the things she was afraid might change.
That conversation reminded me why I started This Mother Means Business in the first place.
So many women enter motherhood already preparing to make their ambitions smaller.
We start thinking about what we'll have to give up, how much less we'll earn, and which parts of our professional identities we'll need to leave behind.
And yes, motherhood comes with trade-offs. There are different seasons, changing priorities, and real considerations around time, energy, and support.
I'm not suggesting that every mother needs to build a bigger business or pursue a higher income. What matters to me might look completely different from what matters to you.
But I do want women to know that motherhood doesn't automatically put a ceiling on their earning potential.
For me, becoming a mother helped me become more focused, build a stronger team, create meaningful partnerships, and find a much deeper sense of purpose in the money I earn.
The version of my business I imagined before having children was actually much smaller than what I've built since.
And I wish someone had told me that was possible.
Let's Keep Having These Conversations
If you're a business owner mom who has ever questioned whether you can continue growing your business while raising your family, I hope this episode reminds you that you don't have to figure it all out alone.
Surround yourself with women who are building businesses, making strategic decisions, raising families, and creating lives that reflect what matters to them.
And if you're looking for more of those women, I'd love to see you at This Mother Means Business Live on April 1, 2027, at the Pearle Hotel in Burlington.
We're bringing ambitious women entrepreneurs together for conversations, connection, and the kind of support that makes business growth feel a whole lot more achievable.
And I'd love to know: What did you believe would happen to your earning potential when you became a mother? Did it turn out the way you expected?
Because sometimes the biggest mindset shift isn't learning how to do more.
It's realizing that the future you thought you had to give up might still be available to you.
