Coffee, Clients & Naptime

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Podcast by Sarah Maree

Coffee, Clients & Naptime

A Mama's Guide To Balancing Parenthood & Working From Home

Coffee, Clients, and Naptime, the ultimate podcast for ambitious parents ready to build a fulfilling business while raising their families. Hosted by Sarah Maree - mother, entrepreneur, and mentor with 15 years of experience in building successful businesses.

Learn how to find your balance between business and your family, creating your dream life during naptime, or in those precious in-between moments when you're a work from home parent. We share practical tools and proven methods to help you transition from overwhelmed to running a successful business on your own terms.

If you're a parent looking to replace the 9-to-5 with flexibility, freedom, and purpose, this podcast is for you. This is the support you need to create the life you’ve always dreamed of - for yourself and your family.

So, grab your coffee, and let’s make it happen!

Follow along on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/balancedbizmama/

Visit us online:

https://balancedbizmama.com.au

Latest episodes

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17 August 2026

Human Design, Boundaries & The Cost of Saying Yes

Every yes costs something. Every single one, without exception.

But most of us, when we say yes, are evaluating whether the opportunity is good. Not whether we have the capacity to carry it well. And somewhere between the yes and the actual doing of the thing, we discover the cost.

This episode came from a week of conversations that all circled back to the same theme, and from Gate 29 moving through the Human Design transits this week, the gate of commitment and devotion, and the kind of yes that actually has energy behind it.

Because your yes has a cost. And the question worth asking is whether that cost is one you actually agreed to.

In this episode I cover:

  • Why every yes has a cost and why most of us aren't accounting for the full weight of what we're agreeing to carry
  • The yeses we say for the wrong reasons, including obligation, fear, performance, and simply not checking what's already in the pile
  • What a misaligned yes actually costs you, from resentment and quality of work through to the quiet erosion of self-trust
  • Why this hits differently for mums in business, and how being praised for capability can quietly build a business model based on overcommitment
  • What Human Design Strategy and Authority actually have to do with protecting the quality of your yes
  • Six questions to ask yourself before you say yes to anything, so that when you do commit, you mean it fully

If you want to go deeper on how your Human Design Strategy and Authority can help you make decisions that actually fit your life and your business, a 1:1 Decode session is the place to start. The link to book is below.

Links + Resources

→ Come say hi on Instagram: @‌balancedbizmama

Check out Aligned by Design and book a Decode session

→ Subscribe to never miss an episode!

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18:43

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20 July 2026

AI Noise, Your Human Design & Why Discernment Is the New Strategy

Something is shifting in the online space right now. Not in a new-trend-to-keep-up-with kind of way. In a something-is-actually-changing-about-how-this-all-works kind of way.

And if your business has been feeling heavy, scattered, or like you're doing a lot but nothing is quite landing, this episode might be the reframe you didn't know you needed.

Because the problem probably isn't your strategy. It's that you're trying to filter too much without a clear lens for what's actually yours to act on.

That lens? It's called discernment. And right now, it's the most important business skill you can build.

In this episode I cover:

  • Why information overload, not lack of information, is what's actually keeping women stuck in their businesses
  • What it feels like to operate without discernment, and why it's so easy to normalise
  • What discernment actually means in a business context and the questions I use to filter what the internet throws at me
  • Why the online space, AI content and the noise are only going to get louder, and what that means for how you build
  • Why Human Design is my answer to the noise and how it gives you a personal filter that doesn't change with every new trend
  • What discernment looks like in practice and the simple question to ask before you add anything new to your plate

Links + Resources

→ Come say hi on Instagram: @‌balancedbizmama

Check out Aligned by Design

→ Subscribe to never miss an episode!

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18:57

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06 July 2026

Naptime Chats: Mental Load, Minimalism & Why Less Gets You Further

What if the answer to feeling overwhelmed in your business wasn't doing more... but doing less?

In this Naptime Chat, I'm joined by Saskia Mardi, also known as The Business Minimalist.

Saskia is a systems strategist, ClickUp consultant and mentor who helps business owners simplify the backend of their businesses so they can create more calm, more clarity and more capacity.

Together, we unpack why so many mums feel like they're constantly behind, how our businesses become more complicated than they need to be, and why simplifying your systems can free up far more than just your time.

If you've ever felt like your business is living entirely inside your head, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we chat about:

  • How motherhood shaped Saskia's journey into business
  • Why doing more isn't always the answer to business growth
  • The link between overwhelm, mental load and your business systems
  • Practical ways to simplify your business and reclaim your capacity
  • Why defining your own version of success matters
  • The Four Ds framework for prioritising your workload
  • How to build sustainable systems that support your current season of life
  • Why simplifying first makes scaling easier later

Key takeaways

  • Overwhelm is often a systems problem, not a capability problem.
  • Your business doesn't need more complexity to grow.
  • Clear priorities create more momentum than endless to-do lists.
  • Systems aren't just software. They're the repeatable ways you work.
  • Sustainable businesses are built by simplifying before scaling.

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you.

Links + Resources

→ Connect with Saskia: https://www.saskiamardi.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saskiamardi/

Substack: https://substack.com/@saskiamardi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saskiamardi/

→ Get her free guide: https://www.saskiamardi.com/guide

→ Come say hi to Sarah on Instagram: @‌balancedbizmama

Book in a 1:1 mentoring session

→ Subscribe to never miss an episode!

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19 June 2026

Glass Balls, Capacity & Why I Took a Step Back

I've been gone for just over a month. No episodes, no announcement, radio silence. If you've been wondering what happened, this episode is me telling you.

I had two big business conferences back to back. A season of significant client work. Family priorities that needed my full attention. And something had to give.

This episode is about why that's not failure. It's the glass and rubber ball theory in action, and once you understand it, it changes how you think about capacity and priorities in your business and your life.

In this episode I cover:

  • What the glass and rubber ball theory actually is and why it matters for mums in business
  • How to tell the difference between something that's genuinely glass (irreversible if dropped) and something that just feels that way
  • Why we mistake rubber balls for glass ones, including identity, other people's expectations, perfectionism and guilt
  • What's actually glass and what's actually rubber in a mum-run business
  • Why sustainable business doesn't mean consistent, it means built around what's truly glass in your life
  • A practical way to identify your own glass and rubber balls, so you can make faster, guilt-free decisions next time life gets full

If this resonates, send me a DM @balancedbizmama and tell me: what's glass and what's rubber in your life right now?

Links + Resources

→ Come say hi on Instagram: @‌balancedbizmama

Book in a 1:1 mentoring session

→ Subscribe to never miss an episode!

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19:07

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02 May 2026

Ambition, Presence in Motherhood & the Tension of Holding Both

This one's a little different.

My youngest has about 20 months left at home before he starts school. And this week, with my business growing and opportunities coming in, the push and pull of wanting to be present and wanting to build has been loud. Really loud.

So instead of a teaching episode, this is just me being honest about what it actually feels like to hold both. The grief of a season ending. The weight of a hard week. The opportunities that make the tension harder. And why I still believe you don't have to choose between motherhood and ambition, even when it feels like you do.

In this episode I cover:

  • The grief that comes with watching your last baby grow up and a season start to slip away
  • What a hard week taught me about presence, depletion and showing up for both work and motherhood
  • How I'm navigating real business opportunities while protecting this time with my son
  • Why the tension doesn't mean you're doing it wrong
  • The season-based approach I use to make decisions that actually feel aligned
  • What holding both motherhood and ambition practically looks like in my life right now

This episode won't give you a framework or a neat resolution. But if you're sitting in this tension too, I hope it makes you feel a little less alone in it.

Links + Resources
→ Come say hi on Instagram: @‌balancedbizmama
Book in a 1:1 mentoring session
→ Join The Balanced Biz Mama Circle (monthly coaching + community for mums in business)
→ Subscribe to never miss an episode!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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22:15

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18 April 2026

Gratitude, Ambition & Wanting More Without the Guilt

You're grateful. You really are. And yet there's this quiet, persistent wanting sitting underneath it all. More income. More space. More identity outside of being mum. More from your business.

And then comes the guilt.

This episode is for every mum in business who has ever looked at her life and thought "I should just be satisfied" while simultaneously knowing she wants more. Because those two things? They can coexist. And the guilt you're feeling about that wanting is not the truth. It's conditioning.

In this episode I cover:

  • Why wanting more doesn't make you ungrateful and where that guilt actually comes from
  • The difference between gratitude and ambition and why they're not opposites
  • How to recognise when you're outgrowing a season of your life or business
  • The specific ways guilt shows up and keeps you stuck (pricing, offers, support, scaling)
  • How to tell the difference between ego-driven wanting and alignment-driven wanting
  • How I navigate this tension in real life and what I ask myself when the guilt creeps in

The core reframe: Real gratitude doesn't require you to stay small. It doesn't ask you to undercharge, overwork, or cap your potential. Real gratitude says, I'm proud of what I've built and I'm ready to build more.

Wanting more is not a character flaw. It's information. And when it's coming from alignment rather than comparison, it's your inner knowing calling you forward.

Links + Resources
→ Come say hi on Instagram: @‌balancedbizmama
Book in a 1:1 mentoring session
→ Join The Balanced Biz Mama Circle (monthly coaching + community for mums in business)
→ Subscribe to never miss an episode!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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