How My Etsy Shop Made $6,265 the Month I Became a Mom (Even on Maternity Leave)
April 2024 changed everything.
What was supposed to be a quiet transition into motherhood turned into hospital stays, doctor appointments, and more unknowns than I could’ve ever prepared for. It was beautiful and hard and blurry all at once.
I put both Etsy and Minted in vacation mode with no real plan for how long I wanted to take off. I expected it to be a couple of months…not weeks (more on that later).
Even with two weeks completely closed and a month that barely felt like “working,” my businesses brought in $6,265. And I hope this can be proof that when your systems are strong, your business can keep moving even when you can’t.
A Peek at the Numbers
Here’s what April 2024 looked like on paper:
💸 Total Revenue: $6,265
Etsy: $3,571 from 53 orders (closed April 4–12)
Minted: $2,694 from 29 orders (closed April 4–16)
Even though both shops were closed for up to 13 days, I still surpassed my $5,000 goal for the month.
And here’s the best part: when I reopened, orders started rolling in almost immediately!
How I Prepared for Time Off
Before I went into maternity leave, I prepared my shops so that when I came back to work, I could dive right back in + have orders coming in quickly.
Here’s what that looked like:
Updated all my listings to make sure SEO, photos, and descriptions were current.
Set clear expectations in my shop announcement and messages so buyers knew when I’d return.
Automated as much as possible: I scheduled replies, templates, and ad campaigns in advance.
Wrote a simple OOO message that set boundaries while still keeping things professional. Here’s what that looked like:
My Etsy Maternity Leave Message (and Why It Worked)
“Thanks for reaching out to our shop! If you're receiving this message, I'm out on maternity leave, and I will respond as soon as I can.”
FAQ TO HELP:
Q: When will my order ship?
A: If you placed an order before our shop temporarily closed, your order will ship out on time. :)
Q: When will you open again?
A: Since this is my first kid, we're playing this by ear. I hope we will only be gone for 2-3 weeks, so check back soon! Thanks for your patience!
Q: How will I know when you're open again?
1. There should be an option in our shop for you to select "notify me when CZ Invitations returns," and Etsy should email you when we come back!
2. Follow our shop.
3. Respond to this message and let us know you want to be notified, and I will send you a message when we're back!
Q: Can I rush my order when you're back?
A: Absolutely; when we are back, you can use this link to purchase the expedited option, which includes rush processing time + USPS Priority shipping [link]
If you see that our shop is closed, we're only taking a short break and will be right back!”
👉🏻 This message did three key things:
Reassured customers that nothing was delayed (so no refund requests!).
Gave them something to do—follow, click, or respond. Action steps make people feel productive.
Anticipated their needs—like wanting to rush an order once I returned. That even served as a little upsell!
🤫 psssst… You can steal ^ this template and several more HERE.
How Long I Took Off (and Why I Came Back So Soon)
I originally planned to take a full month off, at least. But after about two weeks, I realized I wanted a small piece of normalcy back.
We had a lot of unknowns about what was going on with my son, I was exhausted by being nothing but a milk factory. I just wanted to do something, anything, that made me feel like me again. And I’m 100% serious when I say, my Etsy shop is the EASIEST thing that I do. It felt like the path of least resistance to do something for me (and the idea of being productive or making money with all these hospital bills starting to roll in, DID NOT HURT either) So I reopened Etsy first (not my Minted shop) and gave myself permission to ease back in slowly.
It wasn’t about hustling; it was about feeling like me again.
My biggest advice: Trust yourself to know when it’s time for you to open up again. No one will now if you’re ready except you.
The Numbers In Depth
💸 Total Revenue: $6,265
Etsy: $3,571 from 53 orders (closed April 4–12)
Minted: $2,694 from 29 orders (closed April 4–16)
Let’s talk specifics:
Etsy Ad Spend: $144
Revenue from Ads: $1,143 (that’s nearly 8x ROI)
Average Daily Ad Spend: $6.80 during closed days / $5.00 average for the month
Orders from Ads: 20
When you’re on vacation mode, you don’t show up in search. So these were from the weeks of the month that my shop was open!
💫Insight: Even with fewer orders than a full month, repeat buyers made up ~23% of Etsy sales.
Other key Etsy metrics from April:
180 new favorites
22 new followers
17 five-star reviews
12 repeat buyers
Orders shipped to 45 different cities
Social media wasn’t a huge focus (for obvious reasons), but Pinterest continued to bring steady traffic. 47 clicks from Share & Save links.
Balancing Motherhood and Business
No sugarcoating it — it’s hard.
Some days, the idea of working felt impossible, so I didn’t. Others, it was so nice to get back into a sense of “normal.”
I always worked with him strapped to my chest, and often for short intervals.
While going back to work quickly might not feel right to everyone, it was definitely the right move for my mental health. With so many questions and unknowns about his health, I desperately needed something easy and normal.
The Systems That Made It Possible
None of this happened by accident.
Before maternity leave, I’d built systems that made stepping back realistic. Things like:
SEO-optimized listings so that once I was back, I would show up at the top of searches again.
Templates for every scenario like inquiries, one-star reviews, lost orders, FAQ, and more.
Automated ads with capped daily budgets
SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) so that anyone could swoop in and help.
Pinterest so that my content was still getting pushed out and helped me reach people as soon as my shop was open again
The reason my business is the easiest thing that I do, is because I set it up that way. People love to say, “EASY FOR YOU.” That's like looking at a pro athlete and saying, "EASY FOR YOU," when in reality they worked their ass off to get there. But also, isn't that the point? That we all choose the things and life that we enjoy, and therefore find easy?
My systems make it easy, sure. But I also enjoy this work enough to WANT to come back to it. That makes life and business a hell of a lot easier.
Final Thoughts
April 2024 reminded me of something I think a lot of small business owners forget: Your shop can rest when you do.
I'm happy to report we have a perfectly healthy boy, but he did have lung surgery at 6 months old. Luckily, thanks to all my systems and preparedness, it was easy for me to take time off with him without closing my shop at all.
If you do have to close your shop, vacation mode doesn’t ruin all your momentum. (read more about that here) Taking time off doesn’t make you less committed. And you don’t have to choose between your life and your business if you build it intentionally.
If you’re planning maternity leave (or just need a break), start preparing now. Strengthen your systems. Write your templates. Optimize your listings. When your business is set up to support YOU, you can rest often.
As I always say, do the things that future you will thank yourself for.
For me? That’s preparing for the life I want, not the life I have.
🔊You can also listen to the episode on apple podcasts or spotify!
Watch me answer messages in 7 seconds (yes, really.)
Because when you’ve got the right templates, customer convos and selling doesn’t have to eat up your day.
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Out of Office Message
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