What if the moment you fear will slow your business down… is actually the one that makes it stronger?

In this episode of the Kundra Podcast, Theresa speaks with Solène, founder of Process Entrepreneurs, who helps women prepare their businesses for pregnancy and maternity leave.

After a severe and unexpected pregnancy that forced her to drastically reduce her capacity, Solène faced what many entrepreneurs fear most: losing control of her business. But what followed was unexpected.

By cutting non-essential work, delegating more, and simplifying her model, she didn’t just maintain her business, she doubled her revenue after returning.

This conversation challenges one of the most persistent assumptions in the workplace: that parental leave is a disruption to performance. Instead, it reveals how constraint can force better decisions, stronger prioritization, and more resilient business models.

Solène also shares why 72% of women entrepreneurs don’t take full maternity leave, how poor planning can impact up to 12 months of business income, and what both entrepreneurs and companies consistently underestimate about parental leave.

This episode will help you understand:

• Why maternity leave impacts far more than just a few months off
• How constraint can drive better business and operating decisions
• What companies can learn from entrepreneurs about managing parental leave
• Why mindset, not just policy, is the real lever for change

This episode is for entrepreneurs, HR leaders, and managers who want to rethink parental leave, not as a risk to manage, but as an opportunity to redesign work.

In this episode, we discuss:

• 00:00 Introduction & Solène’s background
• 02:57 The structural problem: motherhood as the main driver of inequality
• 05:58 The fear, the planning illusion, and loss of control during pregnancy
• 09:29 Survival mode: forced simplification, delegation, and prioritization
• 18:09 The hidden business impact of maternity leave (9–12 months reality)
• 22:00 The turning point: how constraint led to stronger performance
• 33:31 From risk management to strategic leverage: lessons for companies

About Kundra

Kundra is building the future of parental leave.

We believe ambition and parenthood can thrive together - and companies that embed equity into their foundations today will lead tomorrow.

This podcast is part of our journey: speaking with working parents, business leaders, and HR innovators to surface the truths of career and parenting and the tools that make it work.

We’re now opening up pilot programs for companies ready to rethink parental leave. If you’d like to see how Kundra can support your teams, email [email protected] for a demo.

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