School Hours or Less: The Podcast for Mums & Moms Building Profitable Businesses Around Family Life

Hosted by Kirsty Knight: Business & Life Coach for Mums & Moms

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194

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Aug 2026

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About the show

If you are currently juggling the job of raising little humans while also trying to grow and scale your business… and you're finding it challenging to fit it all in, then this is the podcast for you. Hosted by Master Certified Coach and Melissa Tiers trained Hypnotist Kirsty Knight, this show delivers the productivity-boosting and time-leveraging strategies, sales and business growth insights, time management tips, and mindset shifts you need to grow and scale a profitable business in school hours or less, without sacrificing time with your kids and without burnout. Having coached hundreds of women over the past five years, and as a serial entrepreneur and a mum herself, Kirsty knows all too well the time and productivity challenges most mums face. She brings that expertise, along with the revenue, marketing, and business growth strategies she teaches her clients, into this show so you can build a business that actually works around family life. This podcast is part of Kirsty's wider mission to help 1,000 mums build profitable businesses in school hours or less, proving that women should never have to choose between ambition and the motherhood they want. No matter what stage of business you are in, and whether you call yourself a mum or a mom, this is the podcast for you if you are an entrepreneur, solopreneur, small business owner, coach, consultant, or an online service provider with a big heart and big ambition. Because why on earth should women have to choose? If you're looking for the answers to problems and questions like... I want a 6-figure business during School Hours Only but I'm struggling to fit it all in. I want to only be working during School Hours but want to be making more money. I can't put my baby down for even five minutes. How am I going to get any work done? I actually had the whole day free, because I had childcare for once, and I wasted the whole day. Why isn't time-blocking working for me? How can it possibly work for mums? How am I supposed to work on my business, when my kids are home sick? How do I overcome my perfectionism? I know it is slowing me down and making me procrastinate. Why can't I make myself take action? Even when I know what I should be doing, I don't do it. I feel like I'm not good enough yet to raise my prices but I'm not earning enough and I don't have more hours to work. I'm snowed under so think I need to hire a VA, but I had a bad experience once and my income also isn't consistent, what should I do? How can I stop procrastinating? I think I'm self-sabotaging my business success. What can I do? I'm worried about my kid at school, which means I can't focus on work. I feel like I'm always on my phone for my business — and my kids are seeing me on it all the time. Even when I say I will stop working to play with the kids, I find myself squeezing one more task in. I always feel behind. Even when I have a productive day, I still feel like I haven't done enough. I get such bad mum-guilt if I have to work on my business instead of being fully available for my kids. I am terrible at managing my time. I waste so much time on my emails and social media, even though I don't have time to waste. How do I stop? I want to be earning more, but I don't have any more hours to work. What can I do? I know my work-life balance isn't good. I'm always having to tell my kids no. I only work when the kids are at school but I am not making the money I want to be making with those hours. What can I do? I find it so hard to stay motivated and accountable to what I said I would do working for myself. I hate planning but know that I am more productive when I do. How can I overcome the resistance to planning my week? I can't stop saying yes, even though I don't have time for it. There just aren't enough hours in the day. Should I be getting up at 4am? How do other mums juggle it all? I can't get anything done when the kids are home — they interrupt me constantly. If you're ready to learn ninja-level skills for managing your business, mind and time, so you can make the money you want in your business whilst still having time with your little ones, this podcast is your next must-listen. New episodes share practical strategies to help mums increase revenue, reduce working hours, and build profitable businesses around family life.

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60 recent

August 31, 2026Episode 19515 min

195 - Why time efficient is not always the best strategy

What if the most time-efficient strategy isn't actually the most effective one? When you're trying to grow a business in limited hours, it's easy to become obsessed with efficiency: doing things faster, automating more, using AI, squeezing more into less time and constantly asking, "How can I do this with the least amount of effort?" But sometimes, the thing that creates the biggest result requires you to put some time, money or courage on the line first. In this episode, I'm talking about the difference between time-efficient strategies and high-impact strategies — and why being willing to take a calculated gamble with your time and money can sometimes create a disproportionately bigger return. I share how thousands of social media posts never led to TEDx finding me — but investing £2,500 in a local business summit, showing up to an in-person networking event, having an awkward conversation with someone I didn't know, submitting an application and following up ultimately led to me being booked to give a TEDx talk. We'll talk about why business growth isn't always about finding the quickest route, why opportunities often come through chains of events you could never have predicted, and why courage, proximity, relationships and putting yourself in the room can sometimes outperform another hundred perfectly optimised pieces of content. Because when your hours are limited, the goal isn't necessarily to spend the least amount of time. It's to make the hours you do spend capable of creating a much bigger impact.

August 17, 2026Episode 19426 min

194 - Your Business Shouldn't Need More Hours: How to Diagnose What's Actually Wrong

If your business is taking more hours than you want to give it, your first instinct might be to get more organised, become more productive, hire some help — or simply work more. But what if you're trying to solve the wrong problem? In this episode, I introduce the philosophy behind my School Hours Only Method and a simple three-circle diagnostic for working out what's actually stopping your business from creating the money AND life you want. We'll look at the three roles every founder needs to play: the Adventurer , who decides where you're going and how you want to experience the journey; the Architect , who designs a business capable of getting you there; and the Leader , who develops the self-leadership required to actually drive it. You'll learn how to recognise whether you have a Journey, Vehicle or Driver problem, why productivity can't compensate for a business model whose maths doesn't work, and how my 5 S's — Strategy, Systems, Schedule, Support and Self-concept — help you identify what actually needs to change. Most importantly, I'll help you answer one question: What should I fix first? Because when your business needs more hours than you're willing to give it, the answer isn't automatically to give it more of you. Diagnose first. Then redesign. And if you'd like my eyes on your business, I also explain how you can work with me through a Business Diagnostic Audit to identify your biggest constraints and create your personalised Business Redesign Roadmap . DM me AUDIT here when you are ready.

August 3, 2026Episode 19322 min

193 - How to map out a smart, valuable and sustainable offer

In this episode I take you through the process I took my client through today, to help her map out a smart, valuable and sustainable offer, that is likely to help her make more sales, more revenue, higher profits and feel good for her to deliver as her business grows. Too many business owners only take themselves, their business, or their customers or clients into consideration when thinking about their offers - and really all three need to be taken into consideration in order to build a sustainable, and enjoyable business that gives great value to it's customers.

July 20, 2026Episode 19241 min

192 - How I got here...

In case you are new to my world, I thought I'd share a little bit of my story - the highs and lows of the journey I've been on in the last 11 years - how I started in business, what went wrong, what happened after I hit my goal, and where I am right now. If you are sick of seeing the highlight reel of other business owners, and want some real moments of the ups and downs that make you feel a little bit more human on your own journey, this episode is for you.

July 6, 2026Episode 19119 min

191 - School Hours Only Audit Breakdown: Getting off the path to burnout

She thought she had a time problem. What she actually had was a business that depended too heavily on her. In this episode, I break down a real coaching conversation with a business owner who was feeling overwhelmed, constantly busy, and struggling to see how the business could grow without demanding more of her time. Together, we uncovered some of the key bottlenecks holding her back, including: • Spending too much time on low-value tasks like admin and cleaning • A lack of clarity around where her time was actually going • No clear marketing plan, creating decision fatigue and inconsistency • Difficulty setting boundaries with clients • Undercharging and feeling guilty about raising prices • A business that relied heavily on her to keep everything moving • The mindset patterns making it harder to delegate, sell and grow confidently These are exactly the kinds of challenges we work through inside the School Hours Only Mastermind. Because most women think they need more time. What they often need is more clarity, better systems, stronger boundaries, and a business model that can support the life they're trying to build. If you've ever felt like you're working hard but still not making the progress you want, this episode will help you identify what might actually be standing in your way. ❤️

June 22, 2026Episode 19017 min

190 - Not all revenue tasks are equal: Building a business in School Hours Only

Last week, I was coaching one of my clients, a second-hand bookshop owner, on how to grow her business without sacrificing more of her time. On the surface, one of her ideas seemed brilliant: upload more stock to her website so she could generate sales during the quieter winter months. But when we looked closer, we uncovered a lesson that applies to almost every business owner: Not all revenue-generating tasks are equal. Just because a task makes money doesn't automatically make it the best use of your limited time. In this episode, I share the coaching conversation we had, the concept of opportunity cost, and the mistake I made for years in my own glamping business that kept me working far harder than necessary. If you're trying to grow your business within school hours (or simply without working every evening and weekend), this episode will help you identify where your time creates the biggest return.

June 8, 2026Episode 18913 min

189 - Why women business owners overcommit (and why productivity isn't the real solution)

If you constantly feel like you're trying to balance client work, marketing, admin, and family life - this mini-episode is for you. In this episode, I'm talking about why overcommitting in business often isn't actually a time management problem. After coaching a client who had overloaded herself with back-to-back projects and completely lost the time for marketing, we unpacked the deeper patterns underneath so many women's overwhelm in business: saying yes to too much fear of losing clients or money people pleasing We also touch on: why marketing disappears when delivery gets busy why productivity alone isn't the solution sustainable business design boundaries, and time leverage and building a profitable business in school hours or less If you're an overwhelmed business owner trying to grow without constantly sacrificing your time and energy, this episode will help you understand what is at the root of you overcommitting in the hours you have available.

May 25, 2026Episode 18821 min

188 - Why People Aren't Buying From You (And the Simple Fix That Could Increase Sales Without More Marketing)

If people are already in your world but still aren't buying from you, the problem might not be your marketing. It might be the barriers you're unintentionally putting in front of the sale. In this episode of School Hours or Less , I'm talking about the small things that quietly stop potential clients and customers from taking action — confusing offers, complicated pricing, unclear messaging, long-winded funnels, hidden information, awkward booking systems, and making people jump through hoops just to understand how you can help them. Because the truth is: sometimes you do not need more followers, more content, or more hours spent selling. Sometimes you just need to make it easier for the people already paying attention to buy from you. I share real examples from business and coaching, including how overcomplicated systems, unclear offers, inconsistent visibility, and "book a call for more info" culture can lose sales that should have been simple. In this episode, we cover: Why confusing offers reduce conversions How complicated pricing creates hesitation The hidden sales cost of inconsistent visibility Why people should not have to dig for information When funnels become too long and unnecessary How to make your business easier to buy from Creating clarity around who your offer is for and what people actually get Simple tweaks that can increase sales without increasing your workload This episode is for women and mums building businesses in limited hours who want to make more money without constantly adding more marketing, more content, or more hustle. If you want to build a more profitable business in school hours or less, this one is for you.

May 11, 2026Episode 18716 min

Episode 187 Your money scarcity mindset is costing you money and time

If you're a mum in business trying to grow a profitable business in school hours or less, your pricing matters more than you think — and a money scarcity mindset could be the thing holding you back. In this episode, I'm breaking down why so many women undercharge for their services and how fear, assumptions, and external noise (like the economy or what others are doing) are influencing your pricing decisions without you even realising it. We talk about: Why "people won't pay that" is often just projection Why your location doesn't automatically determine your pricing Why you shouldn't base your prices on what you can afford How value is always contextual to the buyer And why undercharging simply doesn't work if you have limited time to build your business If you want to make more money in less time, and you aren't able to fit in low prices and high volume, then you need to check the math of what you are offering to make it make sense. This episode will help you start thinking differently about your pricing, your value, and what it actually takes to build a sustainable, profitable business that fits your life.

April 27, 2026Episode 18621 min

Episode 186 - How to Build a Profitable Business in School Hours or Less Without Sacrificing Your Life

If you're a mum in business trying to build a profitable business in school hours or less, this episode is for you. I'm talking about the difference between building a business that fits your life and squeezing your life around a business that keeps taking more and more of your time, energy, and headspace. We'll look at how to notice where your business is creeping into everything, why you always feel behind, and how to decide what kind of work-life balance or work-life blend you actually want. I'm also sharing why the real shift is not asking "how do I find more time?" but asking "how do I make my business work in the time I've got?" If you want to make more money in less time, build a business around motherhood, and create a business model that works in school hours or less, this episode will help you rethink how your business fits into your real life right now.