HER TIME & WEALTH · FOUNDED BY A NICU NURSE AND MOM
Personalized maternity leave planning for working moms.
Your benefits aren't your maternity leave plan.
Make sense of your workplace benefits, prepare the right questions, and organize your next steps before baby arrives, with practical resources and personalized planning support.
Dear mama,
you were never meant to figure this out alone at midnight. Let's find out where you stand, together.
with love, Lyla
THE PROBLEM
Nobody hands you a maternity leave plan. So moms leave time and money on the table, simply because no one told them.
Your leave isn't one benefit. It's a puzzle spread across people who don't talk to each other, each with their own rules, forms and deadlines. And you're expected to piece it together yourself, while growing a human.
WHO'S INVOLVED IN ONE MATERNITY LEAVE
And one very pregnant you, stuck in the middle.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN NOBODY EXPLAINS IT
Weeks left on the table
Moms get quoted “12 weeks” and stop there, never learning about time they may have qualified for under their state's rules.
Missed deadlines, late pay
File too early, too late or with the wrong form, and a claim can stall or be denied. Your rent doesn't pause while it gets sorted out.
HR isn't your planner
HR explains company policy. Many can't answer how your benefits, insurer and state program fit together. That was never their job.
Hours you don't have
Endless calls, confusing portals and midnight Google searches. Five sources, five different answers, and a growing pit in your stomach.
STRAIGHT FROM MY INTAKE FORMS
Real answers from moms who reached out this fall, shared anonymously, in their own words. If one of these sounds like you, you're in the right place.
"Umm... All of it. I'm really lost and terrible at financial planning."
INTAKE FORM · OCT 31
"Hoping to get help before my deadline."
INTAKE FORM · OCT 31
"I don't know how to navigate the benefits I may have or know what to ask for."
INTAKE FORM · OCT 31
"Figuring out what can and can't work together."
INTAKE FORM · NOV 1
"I am the main income provider in my family but I want to be able to rest and enjoy my newborn."
INTAKE FORM · OCT 29
"My partner is self employed… we can't afford my income to just stop."
INTAKE FORM · OCT 31
"How state leave works and how to get it - if I need to apply or if work helps."
INTAKE FORM · OCT 31
"What to actually do and when to start and who to contact."
INTAKE FORM · OCT 27
"This is my second child, and with my first I trusted HR and they did not help me at all."A MOM IN MY DMs
WHAT YOU'LL KNOW
Before your due date, you'll know:
How many weeks you may be able to stay home
Which weeks may be paid, partly paid or unpaid
The order your benefits may be used in, and what has to be confirmed
Exactly what to ask HR, and who to ask
Your paperwork deadlines and your gap, if there is one
From "I have no idea" to "I know exactly where I stand."
HOW IT WORKS
The M.A.P. Method
Plan from documents, numbers and dates. Not assumptions.
Map what you have
Gather your PTO, leave policies, disability, state programs and bills in one place.
Ask what applies
Know exactly what to confirm with HR, in writing, so nothing gets counted twice.
Plan your pay and time
See which weeks may be paid, partly paid or unpaid, and where the gap is.
gentle
REMINDERS
for the mama planning her leave
You are not behind.
This system is just confusing.
Ask in writing.
A phone call isn't a paper trail.
Paid and protected
aren't the same thing.
Your coworker's leave
isn't your leave.
Start before you're ready.
Clarity takes a little time.
Your time with baby
is worth protecting.
PRIVATE · ONE-TO-ONE
Work with me
Bring me what you have. I'll help you make sense of it.
Personalized, built around your documents and your family. Not a template. Not a course. Just me, reading every line for you.
01 · FIND THE GAPS
1:1 · PERSONALIZEDThe Maternity Benefits Audit
$197one-time
You have the handbook and the benefits, but you're not sure what you're looking at. I review the documents you send, flag what still needs confirming, and give you the exact questions to take to the right person.
YOU'LL RECEIVE
Benefits Breakdown
What to Confirm list
Custom HR Question Sheet
“Get It in Writing” email
Leave-at-a-Glance Map
Delivered within 5–7 business days after your complete submission. Limited spots each month.
Have me review it02 · DONE WITH YOU
ONLY 3 CLIENTS A MONTHThe Maternity Leave Blueprint
$397one-time
My personalized 3-phase process that takes you from confused to clear to organized, including coordinating your leave with your partner.
FIND THE GAPS
Your personal benefits review, custom HR questions and “Get It in Writing” email
GET THE ANSWERS
Separate what's confirmed from what still needs answering
MAP YOUR LEAVE
Leave-at-a-Glance Timeline, Filing + Deadline Calendar, Pay + Planning Map and Return-to-Work Checklist
Includes one consolidated update within 30 days when new official written information comes in.
Build my BlueprintChoose the Audit if you want to know what you have and what to ask.
Choose the Blueprint if you want your whole leave mapped out with me.
WHEREVER YOU ARE, MAMA
Free, just for you
Not ready to work with me yet? Start here. No cost, no catch, and you don't have to figure this out alone.
FREE · A LITTLE GIFT FROM ME
Start here, sweet mama
Free, always. Ready in seconds.
FREE · START HERE
Leave-Readiness Quiz
A 60-second quiz that finds your biggest maternity leave gap and your next best step.
Show me what I'm missingFREE
His & Hers HR Calls
3 calls and word-for-word questions for HR, your state and your partner's employer.
Get the cheat sheetEducational planning support only, not legal, tax, financial, insurance or HR advice. Benefits vary by state, employer and plan, so always confirm in writing.
THE APPCOMING SOON
By Her Time & Wealth
Know exactly what to do next, at every step of your leave.
Two planners, one family. The Maternity Leave Planner and The Partner Leave Planner turn your leave into a personalized timeline: what to do, when to do it, what to say and what to keep track of. Before baby, during leave and when you go back.
Your timeline
Every step in order, from your first HR email to your first day back.
The words to use
What to ask and what to say, ready the moment you need it.
Reminders that find you
Deadlines and follow-ups show up before they sneak up on you.
Built for both of you
A partner version, so dad or your partner knows his part, too.
IN THE WORKSLAUNCHING SOON
Get on the list before the doors open.
The planner I wish I'd had is almost here. Join the waitlist and you'll be the first to know the second it launches.
- First to hear when it launches
- Sneak peeks while I finish building it
- Free to join. Unsubscribe anytime.
HER TIME & WEALTHnow
Week 32: today's the day to ask HR for your leave paperwork, in writing.
Hey, mama!
I'm Lyla. NICU nurse, boy mom, and the friend who reads the fine print so you don't have to.
Wife to an incredible husband and dad. Mom to a beautiful little boy. A nurse for 10 years, the one beside NICU incubators, holding parents' hands through the scariest moments of their lives. Calm, competent and compassionate when it matters most? That's just Tuesday.
I'm also a former "I'll figure out my leave later" mom. Spoiler: later cost me nearly $40,000.
So now I read handbooks, benefit summaries and state rules the way I read a patient's chart. Line by line. Nothing skipped. Because I don't believe God created mothers to be small, exhausted and broke.
fun facts
- 10 years a nurse across the NICU, the OR and an adult neuro ICU. Very little rattles me.
- I can do benefits math at midnight. I just don't want you to have to.
- I protect quality time with my people like it's PTO.
- Laughing with my girlfriends is my favorite therapy.
- Faith-led, always. God first, spreadsheet second.
Lyla ♡
my whole why ♡
A note from Lyla
I was a nurse. I had benefits. I had HR. I didn't have a plan.
During my first pregnancy, complications led to an emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder at 22 weeks. My recovery used up every hour of PTO and sick time I had, and the savings I'd set aside to carry us through maternity leave was gone before my baby even arrived.
I had about eight weeks at 60% pay and no cushion left. By the end of my leave, I was nearly $40,000 in debt. Not because I was careless, but because nobody taught me that benefits aren't a plan, or what to do when life doesn't follow one.
That's when I became obsessed with piecing the puzzle together, and with understanding why so many moms end up exactly where I was. The answer was hard to swallow. The U.S. is still the only high-income country without national paid leave. Only 13 states and D.C. have their own paid leave programs, and about half of private-industry workers don't get paid family leave through their job.
So we've normalized it. Moms either go broke staying home, or go back before they're ready and leave their babies in someone else's arms, simply because they can't afford another week.
I refuse to call that normal.
In the NICU, I see how precious those first weeks are. No mama should lose them to a benefits maze nobody explained. So I help moms see what they have, what to confirm and what their leave can realistically look like, before baby arrives.
And above everything, I'm a faith-led mom. I believe God will always be our Savior.
with love, Lyla
WHERE TO FIND ME
follow along
Come for the maternity leave tea. Stay for the scripts, red flags and state-by-state breakdowns your handbook forgot to mention.
2,600+
MAMAS
10+
YEARS A NURSE
Also chatting on Threads
LATELY ON THE FEED
Real talk, no fluff, and zero judgment. Just the stuff HR should've told you.
Testimonials
From mamas who planned ahead
A BLUEPRINT STORY
She was scared she'd only get a few weeks. Her Blueprint mapped 22.
WHERE SHE STARTED
"a few weeks"
her words, on her intake form
WHERE SHE LANDED
22 weeks
job-protected, about 5 months
17
of those weeks paid by her state program
+4
paid weeks home before baby nobody had told her about
2
more weeks than the 20 she called her dream
22
deadline reminders already in her phone
BEFORE
"I want to be with my baby as long as possible. I am scared I'll only get a few weeks."
"I was planning to work work work until I could not physically do so."
HR couldn't answer most of her questions and told her to file a claim first.
WHAT HER BLUEPRINT UNCOVERED
Her leave could start at 36 weeks with her provider's certification, use-it-or-lose-it weeks that cost her nothing at the back end.
Two state laws that run back to back: recovery first, then 12 fresh bonding weeks.
Her exact filing window, because filing too early can get a claim denied.
A handbook rule that could have cost her her job, caught months ahead.
AFTER
"I did not know about the 4 weeks. I would not have known this."
"I do not feel like I have to rush and do everything in one day, I can still focus on my pregnancy and health."
"I was able to focus on me and my baby that much more."
Nothing about her benefits changed. Somebody finally read all of it, in order, and put it on a calendar. Her results reflect her state, employer and plan, and yours may look different.
OCT 15
WHAT SHE'D TELL ANOTHER MAMA
"PLEASE PLEASE seek help… The time that she took and the dedication is priceless. I trust her with everything. I would not have wanted nor had the energy to do so and I was able to focus on me and my baby that much more."
BLUEPRINT CLIENT
Shared with permission. Names and personal details hidden for privacy. Every family's benefits and results are different.
so, mama…
Which one sounds like you?
No wrong answers. Just your next step.
PROVERBS 31:25 · SHE SHALL REJOICE IN TIME TO COME