Maternity Leave Plans! (Patreon)

Hi lovely Patrons! 

Thanks so much to those of you who were at the livestream last night where I explained some of my thoughts and decisions around maternity leave. This is going to be a summary post of what was discussed in case you missed it or just like things in writing! You can re-watch the stream here as well if you would like!

Folks mentioned about having an official feedback form so WHY NOT! We have a presentation, meeting minutes so why not a survey to top off all this ridiculous admin that us nerds love 🤓 

Please share your thoughts in this Google Form. If you don't have super detailed thoughts then just feel free to comment below!

TIMELINE

Due date - Monday 25th April
My "last day" of work - Friday 8th April (2 months away!!!! 😬)

At least 3 months off - content production/publishing i.e. no videos/podcast episodes will be uploaded for at least 3 months post-birth

After the 3 months I'll try to return part time although what this looks like exactly is very TBC as depends on how I'm feeling, how baby is feeling, if baby is able to be bottle fed, childcare options etc etc etc. 

"OFFICIAL" PARENTAL LEAVE

Dan gets 6 weeks paternity leave full pay (hurray!)

I will be getting nothing (booo!!) - I would be entitled to claim Maternity Allowance from the government, however, if during my 3 months off I ever felt like picking up the camera to vlog elements of my post-partum experience or life that would count as "work" even if I don't intend to publish the video until once I'm officially "back to work". So I'm deciding not to take any official Maternity Allowance in order to give myself the flexibility and not worry about if I'm breaking the rules or not. 

FEELINGS

I do feel like 3 months is not enough time off and the decision to not commit to taking more time off, I will admit, is definitely influenced by some fear and worries around being an online content creator and small business owner with a team and studio to keep busy and pay for. 

On the flip side there is a sense of freedom that because I work for myself I can, to some degree, make up my own maternity leave rules and go with the flow, adapt and change as needed. 

PUBLIC CONTENT

One of the main things I explained during the livestream was our plan for "floating" content or as I like to call them - "floaters" 💩

Floating Content

By 8th April I will be done with filming and all videos and podcast episodes will be edited, uploaded and ready to go with the click of a button! 

The last week of content before my 3 months off will be:

HW - 3rd Trimester vlog
MH - weekly vlog/prepping for baby/explaining maternity leave plans
DI - end of season Q&A with me

There will also be 3/4 "floaters" for each platform. These pieces of content can be released pre-this final week of content if baby is late or later in the year after my maternity leave if baby is early/on time. 

The plan with my team is to let them know soon as I've gone into labour so they can make sure the next week of content is those final 3 pieces. 

Other public content stuff

• Maternity cover podcast host? - I think I've decided against this as we're getting into a good flow with my team where other than the interview itself (which I love doing) every other part of the podcast process is taken care of by other team members.
• Guest hosts for videos? - this would involve a lot of planning and whilst it may mean having great content go out whilst I'm only able to work part time it might actually be more work and complicated than it's worth
• Upload schedule after mat leave? - this is TBC depending on my capacity. Hoping that during my time off my team can be working on video ideas and getting things ready for my return but we may not be able to do weekly videos or podcast episodes. 
• MH becomes more vloggy? - kind of similar to Sierra's second channel. This is something for me to explore in terms of is doing vlogs more or less work than what it takes for me to make a current More Hannah video?
• Newsletter takeover - during mat leave my producer and assistant will do takeovers of the newsletter. This worked really well when Moog did some takeovers when I was off for wedding/honeymoon and think would be great to do again!
• Sexy Scribbles - unlikely to return in 2022 but if we get our shit together before the end of the year could potentially have a new artist start from January 2023.
• Podcast YouTube channel? - we've been filming most episodes but haven't had the capacity to do anything with the footage. Is my time off when the team can crack on with creating a Doing It Podcast YouTube channel and be editing/uploading content?
• YouTube channels re-design/branding - time for a refresh me thinks. I'm feeling a bit meh about fonts/colours so might be a good time for a change. 

PATREON CONTENT

• Discord - I absolutely will still be using for fun, pleasure and sanity.
• Reading List - won't be monthly during mat leave but might do one (depending on if I have anything to share) once I'm back sharing stuff I consumed during mat leave.
• Livestreams - won't  be committing to monthly but may do on a more adhoc basis and might be just 30 minutes instead of a full hour.
• Re-design - TBC. Nothing about tiers will be changing, just perhaps a change of design. 

THE TEAM

• Editor, Beckii - Beckii is actually leaving her part time editor role to focus on her business (very exciting for her!) so we've got some work to do finding a new editor who will be available to start once I'm back from maternity leave and hoping Beckii/other team members can take the lead on the handover/training process.
• Producer, Mia & Assistant, Moog - during my mat leave these two will be catching up on anything that always gets pushed to the side, creating process guides for EVERYTHING, prepping for my return (video/podcast research & development), writing the newsletter, Doing It Podcast social media (TBC how much we keep this active), Doing It YouTube channel (?) and working on the re-designs (TBC)

BIG IDEAS DUMP

We didn't get round to talking about this stuff during the livestream but whilst I'm surveying you I thought it would be a good time to see what kind of stuff you are interested in seeing from me. These are some of the things on my latest "big ideas dump" and would potentially be things to explore post-mat leave/2023. 

• 10 year diary project - doing something creative and fun documenting moments from the last 10 years of my life (I'm currently on year 10 of my "one line a day" diaries).
• Pleasure Trove livestreams 
• Doing It Book Club
• Sex Education worksheets, workshops, webinars 

Again, here's the Google Form to give more structured/organised thoughts on this whole information dump! If you have any questions - comment below!

Thanks so much! I really appreciate you all so so so so much 💛

Hannah