When I had my first two kids in my early twenties, maternity leave was really rough. It kind of happened, it kind of didn't, and a lot of things went wrong.

But when I was pregnant with my third baby, I completed a couple of projects that made a massive difference in my income and allowed me to take three full months of paid maternity leave.

So today, I’m sharing that story and telling you what happened and what those projects were that enabled me to take paid maternity leave.

And whether or not you’ll ever need maternity leave, these strategies are still relevant for any situation where you know you’ll need to be able to take a chunk of time off without sacrificing your income.