Building A Coaching Business In Motherhood

It's not mom guilt... it's shame that keeps us stuck, doom scrolling, and planning over and over without following through. In this episode Gillian breaks down five specific shames she sees in mom coaches (and has felt herselv coming back from maternity leave).

If you’re building a coaching business in motherhood and keep asking “what is wrong with me?”, this one’s for you, and if you want support with it, you can enquire about mentorship here.

What We Cover

• the difference between guilt and shame
• the five shames Gillian sees and has felt herself: it’s harder than expected, wanting to work AND be with your child, losing yourself in motherhood, not figuring it out alone, not living up to old standards
• why talking about shame is so important and why compassion doesn't mean letting go of business goals
• the importance of knowing what can be left undone in your business

Work With Gillian

• Enquire about mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9
• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/
• Get your free strategy audit: https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy

What does ethical marketing look like in your coaching business as a postpartum mom?

Gillian is joined by body image researcher Michelle Carroll (currently finishing her PhD) to talk through the ethics of marketing to and as a postpartum mom, and how to build a business that doesn't rely on weight loss as the hook.

• What body image actually is (it's way more than "do I like how I look") and how it drives eating and exercise behaviour
• Weight bias, healthism, and why "bounce back" culture ignores how much of postpartum is out of your control
• Why intention and positioning matter when you show your own body in your marketing
• The "if your weight never changed again, what would you be doing to support your health?" question for coaches
• Why ethical, body-image-informed marketing to moms is an open lane (and an easier business long term)

Resources and Links:

• Enquire about mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9
• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/
• Get your free strategy audit: https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy
• Connect with Michelle on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellecarroll1/
• Listen to Michelle's podcast, Weightless
• Michelle's course, Disordered Eating Informed: https://www.michellecarroll.co.uk/dei-course

Is a Black Friday sale actually a quick cash injection, or is it a time and energy suck that you don't have space for in your life right now? Gillian walks through how she'd help a mentoring client decide and start to plan out a successful Black Friday offer, so you can choose what and if that fits your capacity as a mom.

• What a successful sale means for your capacity for new clients
• Who the offer is for and how to tell whether they're already in your audience
• Why "lower price" isn't a compelling reason to buy now
• How to test interest first and why polls might need re-posting
• The importance of audience clarity on what you're offering BEFORE the launch even starts
• How to plan a launch based on what you can actually commit to, not what you wish you could

Resources and Links:

Book a $99 capacity call: DM "capacity" on Instagram (new clients only)

• Enquire about 1.1 mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9
• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/
• Get your free strategy audit: https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy

How do you know which business advice is actually right for you when you're getting told what you "should" be doing from every direction? Gillian shares how she defines self-trust in business and three filters to run any advice through, so your decisions fit this season of motherhood and not someone else's.

• Why so much "should" content undermines self-trust, and the parallel to sorting through parenting advice
• Filter 1: Would following this advice lead me to the business I want?
• Filter 2: Does it fit my current capacity (time and emotional)?
• Filter 3: Does it align with my values, in business and in life? (including Gillian's own daycare hours decision)
• Why self-trust is a life skill, not just a business skill

Resources and Links:

• Enquire about mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9
• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/
• Get your free strategy audit: https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy

Scared that niching down will shrink your pool of potential clients? Gillian explains why getting hyper-specific does the opposite, especially when you're building a coaching business in motherhood and don't have time or capacity to waste on clients who aren't the right fit.

• Why trying to reach everyone (even with a "big niche") means you end up reaching no one
• How being specific makes content creation easier, not harder
• Building trust faster in a way that fits your capacity as a mom
• 4 questions to get clear on who you actually want to help, and are qualified to help, in this season of your life

Resources and Links:

• Free Strategy Audit: ⁠https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy ⁠
• Enquire about business mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9
• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/

Gillian breaks down the difference between "Big F" focus (your overarching business strategy) and "little F" focus (the day-to-day follow-through that actually moves you toward it) — and why focus in motherhood works differently than it did before kids. She unpacks the internal and external forces that drive distraction, and shares practical ways to support your focus depending on where you're actually getting stuck.

What We Cover

• Big F focus vs. little F focus — and why you need both
• Internal drivers of distraction: self-doubt, comparison, perfectionism, competing ideas, and plain exhaustion
• External drivers: who you're taking advice from, your work environment, and task management tools
• Why knowing your capacity is the foundation for fixing either kind of focus
• Practical ways to support focus:

Links Mentioned/Work with Gillian

• Free Strategy Audit —https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy 

• Enquire about 1.1 mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9

• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/

Are you actually being productive in your business, or just feeling productive? In this episode, Gillian breaks down what strategy really means for coaches building a business in motherhood. She shares two real client examples of totally different strategies that both work, plus a free strategy audit so you can figure out where yours might be falling short.

What We Cover

• The difference between feeling productive and actually moving your business in the direction you want
• What "strategy" actually means without the word salad you often hear online
• Why advice from business coaches outside the fitness/nutrition space — or without kids — often doesn't fit your life
• Two client examples: building a low-ticket offer that feeds into 1:1 coaching, vs. moving existing clients into a higher-ticket offer without adding client load
• Why content creation might be your biggest time-suck, and how to approach it strategically instead of just "getting something out there"

Links Mentioned

• Free Strategy Audit — https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy 

• Enquire about 1.1 mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9

• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/

In this episode, Gillian breaks down the 6 specific ways she uses AI (primarily Claude) to run her coaching business as a mother with limited, unpredictable time — from dictation to show notes to call summaries — plus the hard lines she won't cross with her AI usage.

What We Cover

• Using dictation + Claude to turn stroller-walk ideas into podcast outlines, reel concepts, and posts
• Building a loose weekly schedule around the time she actually has, not the time she wishes she had
• Brain-dumping tech and workflow questions into Claude instead of digging through Practice Better, Zapier or ThriveCart help pages
• Turning a Zoom transcript into show notes and content ideas — and why giving AI specific parameters matters
• Editing Zoom call summaries instead of hand-writing notes, so she can stay fully present with clients
• The one line she won't cross: why she'll never let AI coach for her, and the ethics she's still sitting with

Links:

• Enquire about 1.1 business mentorship for mothers: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9
• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri/
• Download the free Strategy Audit: https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy

Is time management in motherhood a myth, or do we just need to redefine what it means? Gillian breaks down how to manage time and tasks in a way that actually fits this season of life so you can move your coaching business forward.

• The loss of control of time and how cognitive flexibility can help more than better scheduling
• What's actually behind 'feeling behind', and why it's not laziness or lack of organization
• Gillian's own 'messy' process that fits with the time she actually has
• Why an outside perspective on time and tasks is even more valuable for a time-strapped mom

Resources and Links:

• Enquire about mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9
• Connect with Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri 
• Download the free Strategy Audit: https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy 

Planning a maternity leave as a nutrition and fitness coach looks completely different than planning one as a CEO with a full team — you're the marketing team, the content team, the accounting team, all in one.

In this episode, Gillian shares the tips she wishes she'd had before her own 4-month maternity leave, covering everything from financial planning and content strategy to why you'll overestimate what you're capable of on your return to work.

Whether you're currently pregnant, planning ahead, or years past maternity leave and still figuring out your business model, this episode is for nutrition and fitness coaches navigating motherhood and business at the same time.

• Why you don't know how you're going to feel post-baby — even if it's not your first
• Giving yourself an actual maternity leave
• Deciding what's okay to leave undone instead of trying to do everything
• Considerations around what type of content to prep before you go on leave
• Handling finances: launches, payment plans, maintenance rates, and waitlists before maternity leave
• Setting up income streams that keep money coming in while you're out

• Reconsidering your business model and client load after having a baby
• Why emotional and energetic capacity shifts, and how that affects one-on-one client load

Resources and Links:

• Schedule a Capacity Call (new clients only): https://bitesizenutrition.thrivecart.com/capacity-call/
• Download the free Strategy Audit: https://bitesize.kit.com/strategy
• Follow Gillian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitesizenutri
• Enquire about 1.1 mentorship: https://forms.gle/p5HppyZCytHRAkUa9