Naptime CEO | Building a Life-First Business as a Mom

Maria Sandberg
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  • Entrepreneurship

Naptime CEO is a podcast for mothers with young children who want to build something of their own — a business, a personal brand, freelance work, a creative project — without making hustle, burnout, or abandoning motherhood the price of success. Because you're not trying to scale to seven figures before 6am. You're trying to figure out how to build meaningful work in the margins: during naps, in the ninety minutes after bedtime, in a week that has maybe twenty working hours in it - if the baby sleeps well. I'm your host Maria, and I'm running this experiment live. After a decade in a career that had stopped fitting, I started writing on the floor beside my daughter's crib and built a freelance copywriting business in under twenty hours a week. I don't have the answers yet though. Every other week I sit down with another mother doing her own version of this and ask the questions most business advice skips: What does success mean after becoming a mother?Can you build something meaningful in 20 hours a week?What are you no longer willing to sacrifice? Expect honest conversations about motherhood and ambition, identity after matrescence, career change after maternity leave, anti-hustle and slow business models, and the practical stuff — childcare, boundaries, systems, tiny consistent steps — that makes it possible to build slowly without stalling. If you love your children fiercely and you refuse to choose between them and the thing your soul keeps asking you to build, this one's for you. Come join the community that gets exactly where you are on Substack at Naptime CEO. New episodes every other week.

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    1. The Naptime CEO Experiment Begins

    Can you build a business in 3 hours a day you find between naps, feeds, and bedtime? After a decade in a career that had stopped fitting, I found myself writing on the floor beside my five-month-old daughter’s crib - and slowly built a freelance copywriting business in the 60 to 180 minutes a day I could find between naps, feeds, and bedtime. That experience changed the way I thought about work, ambition, and motherhood. Because what if you don’t need more time to build something meaningful? What if motherhood isn’t the thing that makes ambition impossible - but the thing that finally makes it clear what you want your ambition to be for? In this first episode, I’m sharing the story of how I started building a business in the margins of motherhood, and why I believe maternity leave can become a powerful trigger for rethinking the way we work. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE: Why so many women start questioning their careers after becoming mothers - and what may actually be underneath that shiftHow motherhood can become a “b******t filter” for work that no longer feels meaningfulWhat you can realistically build with just one to three focused hours a dayWhy having more time isn’t necessarily the answer - and how a simple system and a single point of focus can change what’s possibleWhat an anti-hustle, 20-hour-a-week business can actually look like in practiceWhether it’s possible to be ambitious and deeply present for your family THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF… You’re a mother of young children who feels like your old definition of success no longer fits. You’re done with the churn, the constant pressure to do more, and the idea that building something of your own has to mean sacrificing the life you actually want. Most of all, this episode is for you if you’re wondering whether there’s another way - one where your business supports your life rather than taking it over. Read the full story on Substack and join our community of mothers building something of their own, in the margins. New episodes every other week.

  2. Trailer

    Trailer for Naptime CEO Podcast

    Carrying a big dream around inside you, with no idea where it fits in a day that's already full? Tired of people talking about you like the ambitious part got left behind in the delivery room? Questioning whether the 9-to-5 rut where you barely see your kid is actually normal? Welcome to the Naptime CEO Podcast! Here we explore what it looks like to build something meaningful of your own — a business, a personal brand, freelance work, a creative project — without making hustle, burnout, or abandoning motherhood the price of success. I'm Maria. After a decade in a career that had stopped fitting, I started writing on the floor beside my daughter's crib and building a freelance copywriting business in under twenty hours a week. I don't have it figured out — that's sort of the point. Every other week I sit down with another mother running her own version of this experiment and ask the questions most business advice skips: What does success mean after becoming a mother? Can you build something real in twenty hours a week? What are you no longer willing to sacrifice? Join our community on Substack — because as mothers we are capable of building extraordinary things, but nobody has to do it the hard way, alone. New episodes every other week.

Trailer

About

Naptime CEO is a podcast for mothers with young children who want to build something of their own — a business, a personal brand, freelance work, a creative project — without making hustle, burnout, or abandoning motherhood the price of success. Because you're not trying to scale to seven figures before 6am. You're trying to figure out how to build meaningful work in the margins: during naps, in the ninety minutes after bedtime, in a week that has maybe twenty working hours in it - if the baby sleeps well. I'm your host Maria, and I'm running this experiment live. After a decade in a career that had stopped fitting, I started writing on the floor beside my daughter's crib and built a freelance copywriting business in under twenty hours a week. I don't have the answers yet though. Every other week I sit down with another mother doing her own version of this and ask the questions most business advice skips: What does success mean after becoming a mother?Can you build something meaningful in 20 hours a week?What are you no longer willing to sacrifice? Expect honest conversations about motherhood and ambition, identity after matrescence, career change after maternity leave, anti-hustle and slow business models, and the practical stuff — childcare, boundaries, systems, tiny consistent steps — that makes it possible to build slowly without stalling. If you love your children fiercely and you refuse to choose between them and the thing your soul keeps asking you to build, this one's for you. Come join the community that gets exactly where you are on Substack at Naptime CEO. New episodes every other week.

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