Pregnancy and children are meant to be one of the happiest times of your life. However, for female (or male) stylists, being having a child often means losing a lot of customers when taking maternity (or paternity) leave.

We asked our Facebook fans how they balanced retaining clients with caring for their new bundle of joy.  Here are their tips for making sure you will still have a successful career to return to once your maternity/paternity leave is done.

Plan your leave

For many stylists going back to work earlier than they’d hope is the reality of having a child but needing  to pay the bills at the same time.  One option is to share your mat leave with your partner (if they’re willing and it wouldn’t hurt you both financially) so you can return to work sooner. Asking retired parents for help, if possible, is a good idea, too.

Another option is to work part time on the weekends to keep some of your best clients with you. Also, offering to do one-off events like weddings is another way to make some quick cash and keep yourself on your clients’ radar.

Tell your clients right away

Surprising your clients with the news at their last visit with you before your leave will only upset them. Tell them as soon as you see them so that together you can start planning for your transition.

Even if you think you can wait until you are showing to share the news with customers, a lot of women experience too much nausea due to the fumes in the salon to stay throughout their entire pregnancy. Since you never know when you may have to leave, talk to all of your clients, whether it be through a letter, email or phone call, around the three month mark, just to be safe.