Coming Home (Again): Why I’m Starting My Website Back Up After Leaving Corporate America for Motherhood

Sometimes life takes unexpected & beautiful turns.

In March of 2022, I returned to work from my 3rd maternity leave. My newest baby was only 3months old. I knew how difficult it was going to be, the pumping in my car between appointments, carrying on important conversations while sleep deprived. I had done it all before & it’s the price you pay.

The 10 years leading up to this point had been full of hustle- endless miles & even more samples. The spreadsheets, the deadlines, the road maps, the quotas. The endlessly moving goalposts, it felt so urgent. So important. And well, it was - until it wasn’t.

Somewhere between dropping off samples & submitting expense reports, a nagging feeling was bubbling up. I had felt it before, but this time it was different, deeper. That maternal tug for something slower, simpler. Something that smelled like milky baby breath & midday cuddles.

I had three babies at home, growing much faster than I wanted, and every time I left them with the nanny a little piece of my heart died. So, I did something brave & scary - crazy by modern standards- I walked away. I walked away from the career I had built, the security, the money & I came home.

Three kids 4yrs & under kept my days full & I quickly decided to close down the shop & let the website domain go. Funny isn’t it, that it was easier to have this creative outlet on the side while I was working full time. Lonely quiet hotel rooms left plenty of space for Hartland Cottage Co & full time nannies left room for shipping orders. Just when I thought my hands & heart was full, God decided to send along baby no.4!

Oh baby Joseph, God healed so much of my heart with your arrival. He’s just turned one. He’s my first baby that I never had to leave to return to work. My first baby that wasn’t forced to learn to take a bottle in anticipation of mom not being around. I saw his first steps, heard his first words, was his first high five & his first kiss. Finally, noone else got to witness those most important things without me. I wasn’t in Chicago when he took his first steps, like I was when Emeline took hers. I wasn’t pumping in the car while someone else sang him to sleep, like Ellie.

And just when I thought my hands & heart were full.. God surprised us with baby no. 5! It’s still very early & there is some less than ideal bloodwork, so we are trusting in Jesus & praying for this little growing baby!

So why am I starting the blog & the shop back up, now?

Because even in the chaos- especially in the chaos- I realized something important: I still have a voice. I still have creativity. And yes, right now I am comforting a crying baby & am being used as a jungle gym for a toddler while trying to finish this post via my phone -because God has called me to share the beauty of motherhood. Maybe someone reading this is thinking “I can’t walk away” or “what if I loose myself in motherhood?”

What if - you find yourself instead?

I pray she finds hope & encouragement here. I pray she realizes that even as the world tells her she will loose herself- I can show her the beauty of finding yourself in motherhood!

This little corner of the internet isn’t just a hobby or a project—it’s a reclaiming. It’s where I get to write, create, encourage, and maybe even make a little magic in the margins of nap time and snack refills.

So what can you expect?

You’ll find reflections from this season of life on the blog—little glimpses of everyday grace. You’ll also start to see the shop come to life again, full of handmade and heartfelt things for the home and heart. And woven through it all is the thread that holds me together: my faith.

So here I am—starting again, but not from scratch.

Starting from experience.

In faith.

In love.

In the deep, beautiful mess of motherhood.

If you’ve ever taken a leap. If you’ve ever traded hustle for home. If you’ve ever wondered who you are after your world changes… this space is for you too. I pray you too are delighting in finding yourself in motherhood.

Let’s begin again—together, but even better than before!

xo-

Kate