My first maternity leave lasted about ten days. Even during those first days, I was taking work calls. I went into my first pregnancy with no real idea of what to expect. I don’t think any mom truly knows, but looking back, I was especially naïve.

I thought I was successful, organized, and a good leader. I figured I could just add a baby into the spreadsheet of my life and carry on. I was wrong.

The first six months of motherhood were hard. I developed postpartum depression and felt completely unprepared. It didn’t help that this was during the pandemic, when friends and family were out of reach. I often wonder how different my experience might have been without lockdowns, but the truth is, I didn’t have a plan, and I paid for it.

A Better Plan the Second Time Around

When I found out I was pregnant again, I decided things would be different. My goal was to take four months off: a huge leap from my first experience.

I run a mortgage team, Applied Mortgage in Northampton, and I’m directly responsible for about 60 percent of our revenue. The other 40 percent still requires my leadership to motivate the team. If I was going to step away, it would take careful planning and full team involvement.

I started early, meeting with a personal trainer, a nutritionist, a therapist, and multiple business coaches. Then I began pulling myself out of daily operations, aiming to keep only two main responsibilities: financial oversight and protecting our reputation.

The “Do, Delegate, or Delete” Exercise

We used an approach I call the “do, delegate, delete” method. We listed every one of my daily tasks, along with those of each team member. For each task, we decided:

• Do it ourselves
• Delegate it to another person or to technology
• Delete it if it was no longer needed

I say “we” because this was truly a team effort. Everyone participated: and everyone benefited. My staff also went through the same process for their own roles, which helped us eliminate redundancies, create efficiencies, and improve how we worked together.

From there, we created new roles, implemented useful technology, and adjusted compensation and bonus structures to encourage responsibility. Throughout, we held onto our core values: treating customers like family, offering mortgage solutions that serve their best interests, operating with honesty and integrity, and giving back to our community.

Practice Runs and Building Confidence

About two months before my May due date, we started practice runs. I was already out of most of the daily work, but there were still a few tasks to hand off. The practice period allowed my team to handle situations without me while I was still available for guidance.

By the time delivery day came, I was confident in my team, and, more importantly, they were confident in themselves. I took four full months off. During that time, I oversaw finances and answered a few reputation-related questions, but my team handled everything else. They did an incredible job.

The Harder Part: Coming Back

The real challenge came when I returned. It was tempting to slip back into my old roles, even in areas where my team had surpassed me. Reassessing my own skills and setting aside my ego is something I still work on daily.

We now revisit the “Do, Delegate, or Delete” exercise at least once a year, or more often if the mortgage market shifts. It helps us determine what positions we might need to change, create, or hire for.

Lessons Learned

Never underestimate the power of a deadline. A baby’s due date may not be exact, but it gave me a clear goal to work toward.

My second maternity leave was a success because I had a plan, I involved my team, and I trusted them to do their jobs. I went from less than three days off to four months; and the business didn’t just survive, it gave me new energy and opportunities to grow.

This is a contributed blog post written by Lindsay LaBonte, who has a unique perspective of the mortgage business having grown up in the industry. Her dad Todd Barron founded the Applied Mortgage Team and she is honored to keep up the legacy.

With over 18 years of industry experience, Lindsay has been individually ranked in the top 5 Loan Originators at a Western MA Mortgage Company (includes Hampshire, Franklin, Hampden and Berkshire Counties) by number of units for 7 consecutive years. Banker & Tradesman Hampshire County top 3 Originators since 2017 through present. Lindsay is also a Scotsman Guild top 1% Woman Loan Originators and featured in Mortgage Banking Magazine’s 2022 Powerful Women of Mortgage Banking. In addition to helping thousands of clients with their homeownership goals, the team has also received over 250 five star reviews and recommendations form happy customers. Furthermore a core part of the Applied Mortgage mission is to support the community by giving back to over 30 local non-profit organizations through their time, talent, and treasure. Lindsay has served on a variety of boards and committees throughout the years.

Lindsay resides in Western MA with her husband Sam and their daughters Charlie and Penny. In their spare time they’re always on the go as a family spending time with their large extended family (Sam comes from a family of 7) and traveling.

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