I took a 50% pay cut to avoid paying for childcare. It was the right decision, but it's still difficult.

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When I got laid off from my full-time job in 2016, I decided to start my own business in the wedding industry and working as a content creator. I vowed to do whatever it took to be my own boss, even if that meant picking up odd jobs. So when I found out that I was pregnant in 2022, I told my husband, who also works full-time, that we'd have to get childcare. I had no plans of pausing my work or slowing down on what I had worked so hard over the years to create.