Being Adaptable Through Pregnancy and Full-Time Entrepreneurship with Danielle Desir Corbett
This week’s guest, Danielle Desir Corbett
A mom and the voice, face and powerhouse behind The Thought Card, an award-winning affordable travel and personal finance blog and podcast.
Episode Description
When we have kids, our lives change drastically – which often means we have to adapt our plans to follow suit.
Danielle Desir Corbett is the mother of a five-month-old-son whose entrance into the world this year has been eventful, to say the least. At her 32-week appointment, she was told she had preeclampsia, and that her baby needed to come out NOW.
I’m excited for listeners to hear her inspiring story about launching her dream job in the midst of a pandemic as a new mom, and her advice about all things concerning motherhood and entrepreneurship, from letting go of the things we can’t control to the importance of being adaptable in the face of big changes parenthood brings.
Danielle is the voice, face and powerhouse behind The Thought Card, an award-winning affordable travel and personal finance blog and podcast.
Side-hustle to full-time job
Danielle began The Thought Card in 2015 as a general travel/lifestyle blog, but she quickly found her footing focusing on two big passions: travel and money management. Each year, she built on it as a freelance and book writer and podcast host.
When the pandemic hit and Danielle began working from home, she started imagining quitting her day job to pursue The Thought Card full-time. Would it be possible? Or was the money from her 9-5 job too hard to give up?
One day, her husband came to her – not prompted – and said, “listen, if you want to do this full-time, you can quit, but you have to put in the work to get there.” She planned to leave her corporate job by December 2021 with a savings goal in mind.
There were two facets to the goal.
One: she wanted enough in case The Thought Card didn’t work out.
Two: she wanted to earn THROUGH the Thought Card to prove her business was making enough to even consider it. She met that goal and was ready to quit by July. It’s been a year, and she hasn’t had to touch that money at all.
There are a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners who don’t take the time to set themselves up in that capacity and consequently take on more than they can chew or take on clients who don’t align with their vision and values. Hearing Danielle’s story is inspirational in the sense that it’s totally possible to turn your side hustle into a full-time job that you love and can live off.
Her advice for entrepreneurs looking to start a business they love? Make a list of things you’re really good at and enjoy. Imagine what a day in your ideal life looks like.
Then, just start. Create! It’s going to be messy and imperfect. But when you’re starting, no one’s looking, so that’s a great time to mess up and make mistakes, because no one sees it anyway. You need to practice and get the reps in.
Constantly reevaluating
Shortly after quitting her corporate job, Danielle discovered she was pregnant.
Trimester one was hard. Here she was, a brand-new entrepreneur, trying to figure out her schedule and how to get more clients, exhausted and feeling awful. She told her husband she felt like she was failing, and he assured her she wasn’t – she was growing LIFE, which helped her give herself the permission to rest.
The idea of working 9 to 5 went out the window. Instead, she worked when she felt inspired, which sometimes was at 3 a.m.
As soon as they could, she and her husband sat down and made a financial plan. They would save three months worth of expenses for when their son was born. They had to consider: how much money did they spend per month as a household? It was a powerful experience – now they had a goal they were fighting for. Every month they evaluated and reevaluated where they were financially.
Danielle laid the groundwork, creating more opportunities for passive income and figuring out ways to continue to grow – which also involved giving up some of her time consuming clients.
It can be hard to let go – of clients, of projects you worked so hard on – but there’s something to be said about pivoting and altering our situations so they work for us.
The importance of being adaptable
Danielle had all these wonderful plans for her pregnancy. A baby shower! A maternity shoot! They were even able to squeeze in a babymoon in Vermont.
Then, at her 32-week appointment the next day, Danielle was told she had preeclampsia, and that her baby needed to come out NOW.
It was an incredible journey that opened her eyes to a lot. Danielle wasn’t in control over how she felt in her first, second and third trimester, and the preeclampsia that forced her to give birth sooner than anticipated. She had to be adaptable and go with the flow and trust she had all the tools to make it through.
What I also find inspiring is the way she and her husband care for their baby, watching him in shifts. Her husband takes the before 9 am shift and the 11 am to 1:30 pm shift, and she has the time in between. They didn’t want to do daycare or childcare, which means every hour has to be scheduled intentionally.
For us parents, Danielle says it’s so important to have clarity about the kind of support you need:
Is it a babysitter? A nanny? Daycare?
Then, assess: how much does it cost? Is it feasible? Can you pare it down – for example, to two days or three days if you don’t need the full five?
Notable Quotes from Danielle
“What I do think is important, especially if you’re in the content creation route, is to just start. Is to just create. And it’s going to be messy, it’s not going to be perfect. But when you’re getting started, no one’s looking. So that’s a great time to mess up and make mistakes, because no one sees us anyway. Right? But you need the practice, you need the reps in.”
“I did not have control over how I felt in my first, second, third trimester, so it allowed me to be adaptable and go with the flow, which helped prepare me when we found out that I had preeclampsia - and that was huge. I had to get rushed to the hospital and all that. But understanding early on that, okay, I have to give up control a little bit at this point, really helped me feel more confident and not freak out too much because I wasn’t being as productive as I thought I should have.”
Resources & Links
What did you think of today’s conversation? We’d love to hear from you. Danielle is on Instagram, Twitter, and you can also find her via The Thought Card and its accompanying podcast. She also has an awesome article in Business Insider about how to save for a three-month self-funded parental leave.
Learn more about Project: Mom and follow us on Instagram at @projectmompodcast.
Do you want to share your motherhood journey on the podcast? Email me at projectmompod@gmail.com.