3 Models for How to Make Maternity Leave Happen
January 15, 2019

Many a studio owner might agree that the idea of maternity leave is laughable. “So many people say, ‘I was back after two weeks—we had a competition,'” says Meagan Ziebarth, a former owner who sold her studio two years ago. “If that works for you, and you feel great, wonderful. But I feel passionately that having a baby is one of the most transformational life events, and you don’t need to put that kind of pressure on yourself and accept that that’s the norm.”

So how can you take the maternity leave you want and make sure your studio doesn’t run itself into the ground? We asked three who did it for their best advice—including what they wish they’d done differently.

Be OK With Crazy

Suzana Stankovic and Natalia.

Suzana Stankovic
Wild Heart Performing Arts Studio
Astoria, New York
Enrollment: 500 (drop-in)
2 years in business

Suzana Stankovic signed the lease on her New York studio a mere 10 days before she gave birth to her first child. The space she’d been renting hourly for private and group lessons unexpectedly became available for a lease takeover, and, despite the timing, it felt like the right decision. “I said, ‘This is happening for a reason,'” she says.

For the first two months after her baby was born, Stankovic recovered (she’d had a C-section). She held a soft opening in mid-November (2 1/2 months postdelivery) for existing students and officially opened her studio—with a drop-in class format—to the public the following January (4 months postdelivery).

  • Figure out your childcare. “It’s the most important thing. You’ve got to figure that out, whether that means visiting daycare centers and finding one you’re comfortable with or involving your entire family,” she says. Stankovic’s parents are retired and live near her, luckily, so they became her nannies. “That’s the major reason I was able to do this,” she says.
  • Expect to feel different after giving birth. “When I had my baby, and it came time to leave her and go to work, it was very, very difficult,” says Stankovic. “I wasn’t prepared for that. I was texting my mother constantly: ‘Is she OK? Did she have her milk? Is she colicky?’ It was hard to be fully present, initially. Be prepared for the effects of sleep deprivation and not eating well and the postpartum blues.”
  • Have a support system in place. That’s how Stankovic got through the roughest times, postbirth. “Have a friend or your husband or partner,” she says. “And know that the very difficult times are temporary. They do abate. And if they don’t, there are resources. There’s help out there.”
  • Be OK with crazy. “I would plan my lesson and do my combos in the shower,” she says. “On my way to the studio, I’d finish up my grand allégro in my head. I’d send e-mails in the middle of changing her diaper—I’d write two sentences, change the diaper, write two more, then hit send.” The result of so much multitasking? “I realized, ‘Wow, I can do so much more than I thought I could,'” says Stankovic. “I’m ready for anything.”






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