Starting an MBA during Maternity Leave

Olivia D'onofrio, a participant in the Global Online MBA programme, shares her motivating and empowering journey of pursuing an MBA while on maternity leave, recounting how this endeavor allowed her to chase her life-long aspiration and ensure the future she envisions for her family.

When I made the decision to start an MBA during my maternity leave with a three-month-old and 14-month-old at home, I was met with a lot of puzzled looks from family or peers. Many people were confused why I would take on this endeavour with such little babies at home, especially as they are only 11 months apart. What they did not understand was that I was actually doing this for them. By setting myself up to complete a life-long goal and secure the future I want for my family, it would make me a better mom, partner, colleague, friend, sister, and overall person.

Life is always going to be busy, in fact, it is only going to get busier with the girls growing older. To me, this was a perfect time to reinvest in myself and my family and the rest was just outside noise to block out. My first maternity leave was filled with Netflix series’ and mindless scrolling on social media while the baby napped. I knew this time around I wanted to get more structured with my time (as much as you can with little ones!) and I knew it was possible as I was inspired by many women before me who have done an MBA while on maternity leave or with young babies at home. Working in higher education provided lots of opportunities to be surrounded by inspiring leaders. In every interview I did with MBA alumni the common thread was that it was going to be hard but, with a great support system and drive, it’s possible.

I chose the Warwick Business School (WBS) Global Online MBA because it was the number one ranked online programme, and I could manage it during the unpredictability of raising babies. As I’m now entering my ninth month in year one, here are some of the things I have learned.

1. Establish your support system: Before applying to the programme, I had the support of my husband and mom who understood the toll it could take on the family and who offered solutions to make it work. For me, that meant enlisting some support two days a week to ensure I got dedicated hours to devote to lessons, as a three-month-old is unpredictable to say the least.
    
2. Be flexible: Planning is key, but life happens, and a big lesson I learnt is how to adapt when things change. Within the first week of the program starting my eight-week-old baby girl was hospitalised with RSV. All my plans for getting a head start on the material went out the window and my focus was on my family. The doctors and nurses were amazing and we were out of the hospital after five days, but I found myself falling behind. I recognised that there was still lots of time to catch up and shifted my perspective to be more flexible with balancing my studies and life. The Programme Team at WBS are amazing and provide lots of options to adjust your schedule to things that come up, which is another reason I chose the programme. Having the option to slow down the courses or get an extension for mitigating circumstances is reassuring.
    
3. Take care of yourself: Stress is inevitable when balancing motherhood, work, and any schooling. Find the ways that work for you to relieve stress and take care of your body and mind. For me this meant a 10-minute meditation from the Calm App, squeezing in a 20-minute workout before I started on my studies, or scheduling in a massage. Recognising that this was important and needed to be prioritised over the pile of dishes or laundry made a huge difference.
    
4. Remember your why: There will be times when you question your decision to embark on an MBA during such a crazy time in life. It’s easy to get sucked into a negative spiral and start doubting yourself and if you can handle it all. What I found works to pull me out of these spirals are:
   1. Great mentors and friends who lift you up and provide words of encouragement!
   2. Having mantras you repeat. My favourite one is “I can do hard things”
   3. Lastly, remembering your why. Why did you want to do this in the first place?

Doing an MBA at this point in my life was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I love being challenged in new ways and learning a breadth of topics related to business, not to mention the people I’ve met along the way. My final advice for anyone considering doing an MBA with young kids, or even during maternity leave, is a quote from Change Maker Nelson Mandela, “It always seems impossible, until it’s done.”