Motherhood, Maternity Leave, and Making Your Own Path Out of Corporate: A Conversation with a Former BABs Student

Meet Molly

Katie: Can you tell us how you ended up deciding to start a bookkeeping business?

Molly: Well, it wasn’t my first idea. Originally, prior to my bookkeeping business, my plan to get out of corporate accounting was to try and be a blogger. You know what’s funny about that, Katie? I’m not a good writer.

However, I am a good accountant. So after the birth of my third little girl, I was on maternity leave. I was scrolling TikTok when I saw another bookkeeper posting about getting out of corporate, and they’d posted a link to your (Katie’s) course.

Immediately it was like a light bulb went off. I was like, “Oh, this is how I can be on the online space while using the skills that I already have!” And that’s how Bookkeeping by Molly came about!

The Myth of Flexibility

Katie: So first, you were thinking about blogging. Why was that your first thought?

Molly: Well, back in college, I had picked accounting because I knew I wanted a family, and in my mind, it was back office. I thought it would have a lot more flexibility. (Ha, ha.)

Katie: I’m laughing because I thought the same thing. I really thought I would do taxes from home as a mom. I can't even do my own taxes at home with my kids now the youngest is six! But the thing is, you don't know that until you have kids.

What’s interesting is that bookkeeping did end up flexible for both of us. Just not flexible in the way that we expected.

Molly: Right. So with that idea of flexibility in mind, I knew I wanted to get out of corporate. I knew there was opportunity online, and I enjoyed reading blogs, so I figured that might be my way out.

It didn’t take long for me to realize it wasn’t for me. In the end, I think what I was really looking for was a community. And I ended up finding that with you and your programs!

Never Too Late, Never Too Trapped

Katie: I can't wait to hear what you were able to achieve from 2022 to 2026. I love the timeline of that, because I am constantly preaching in every episode that you're never too late to start. I know the feeling of feeling too late to start something when you see others ahead of you in anything, but it’s just not true. It still blows my mind to see what bookkeeping can do for people, but it truly makes all this possible, no matter how “late” you find it.

I honestly enjoyed working corporate before I had kids. I might have wanted more vacations, but that’s about it.

Once I got pregnant, though? I could not imagine those two worlds together. I never ended up having to do it, but I remember sitting there with my six-week-old and just being flabbergasted by the idea that I would’ve been expected to go back to work.

I'm pretty tough, but I think it would've killed me.

Molly: I was very much the same. I was fully on board with climbing the ladder. But after my first, I had to go back at six weeks, and it was awful.

I remember crying so much. I had a forty-minute commute each way. I was getting home around 5:45, and my baby would go to bed around 6:30 or 7:00, so I barely had any time with her.

I did that until COVID sent everybody home, and for the last four years, I’ve been able to continue working from home. I don't know how I would’ve be able to do any of this and be in an office and have a commute all while adding in the kids' schedules.

The Escape

So how did Molly manage to come up with a plan, create her bookkeeping business, and grow it to the point of being able to go full-time, all while still working her corporate job and caring for her kids?

The whole story is waiting inside Episode 13 of Profits + Prosecco, available NOW. Don’t let yourself continue to wallow in the feeling that you’re trapped, that it’s too late for you, or that there’s no way out.

There is always a way…even if you have to make it yourself. Molly’s story proves it. If she can do it, so can you—and it all starts in Episode 13. All you have to do to take the first step is hit PLAY.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Connect with Molly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookkeepingbymolly/?hl=en 

Season 2 of Profits & Prosecco is HERE! Kick off your newest podcast addiction (or celebrate its return!) and listen to Episode 1 now: https://open.spotify.com/show/4dB0ZE8JaxqrkImm3Ifxrb 

Sick of imposter syndrome keeping you stuck? Join the new + improved BECOME A BOOKKEEPER now: https://www.katieferro.com/become 

Want a peek behind the curtain into LIBBY, my program all about what it really takes to have a simple and scalable (and successful) bookkeeping business? Get access to my free, on-demand four-part series, 6 Secrets to a Simple, Scalable Bookkeeping Business: www.katieferro.com/6-secrets

Learn how to take your bookkeeping skills and turn them into a business that allows you to replace (or surpass) your corporate salary, be present for your life, and profoundly impact your clients without selling your life in the process by joining Life by the Books (LIBBY).  

CONNECT WITH KATIE:

Website: https://www.katieferro.com/

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