The Business of Parenting Podcast

The Business of Parenting Unscripted
In this unscripted episode, Jackie steps away from the usual format to reflect on the journey of The Business of Parenting—43 episodes in—and share a glimpse of what’s coming next, including the upcoming Lead Anyway and Moms Who Lead series, a new Table Talk, and her first book.
But at the heart of this episode is a simple story about a boy, a beach full of starfish, and the reminder that even when we cannot change everything, what we do can still matter deeply to someone.
Parenting can feel much the same way. We pour thousands of lessons, conversations, corrections, encouragements, and acts of love into our children without always knowing what will stick. But sometimes, one thing does. One word. One lesson. One moment of encouragement. And that one thing can shape a life, and perhaps ripple outward into the lives of others.
This episode is an encouragement to keep showing up, keep pouring in, and keep doing the work you feel called to do, even when you cannot yet see the outcome.
Because it may just be that one thing that makes all the difference.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

In Part 1, we asked whether the help we give our kids is making them more capable or simply more dependent on our help. In Part 2, we turn to what parents can actually do.
Part 2 - From Homework Battles to Lifelong Learners: How to Help Your Kids Learn Without the Stress
Using principles from learning organizations, Jackie explores three areas that can help families create a healthier culture around learning: building a supportive learning environment, teaching practical processes for learning, and leading in ways that gradually encourage greater ownership and independence.
You’ll hear practical ideas for responding to disappointing grades, helping kids understand how they learn best, teaching study and organization skills, using a simple “Learning Review,” and moving from learning manager to learning coach.
And none of it requires adding another complicated system to your family. The goal is to start where you are, use the time you have, and help your kids become people who know how to keep learning.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

From Homework Battles to Lifelong Learners: How to Help Your Kids Learn Without the Stress - Part 1
The school year can quickly turn parents into homework managers—checking portals, tracking assignments, reminding kids to study, and wondering why we seem to care more about their schoolwork than they do.
In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Jackie explores a bigger question: Are we simply helping our kids get the work done, or are we helping them learn how to manage their own learning?
We’ll look at the growing expectations placed on kids as they move through school, especially the transition into middle school, and why skills like studying, organization, time management, and self-advocacy may need to be taught rather than simply expected.
The goal is to think more intentionally about the kind of help we give and whether it is gradually building their confidence, capability, and independence.
Then continue directly into Part 2, where Jackie shares practical principles for becoming a learning family.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

Change Isn't Coming. It's Here: Leading Yourself Before You Lead Your Family Through Change
As parents, we often tell ourselves that once things settle down, we’ll finally get organized, find our rhythm, and feel more in control. But what if change isn’t an interruption to life? What if it’s simply part of it?
In this episode, Jackie reflects on her family’s recent move back to the United States, stepping into a demanding new leadership role, and rebuilding routines, relationships, and support systems at home—all while life keeps moving. Drawing on her experience as a leadership strategist and mom of five, she explores an important truth: we don’t get to process change first and parent second. We’re parenting while we’re changing, too.
Before we can effectively lead our children through change, we need to notice what that change is doing in us. What are we holding onto? What feels uncertain? What are we trying to control? And who are we becoming in the process?
Jackie shares three simple questions to help parents pause, reflect, and lead more intentionally through whatever season they’re in. Because our kids aren’t the only ones becoming. We’re becoming right alongside them.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

Before the Rush: One Question to Ask Before the School Year Begins
Back-to-school season can quickly become a blur of schedules, supplies, activities, and endless to-do lists. But before the rush begins, there’s one question worth asking: What does my family need most from me in this season?
In this short episode, Jackie shares three simple ways to enter the new school year with greater intention: observe before you organize, choose one thing to give more of, and look for the minute moments—those small, everyday opportunities to connect that are already woven into family life.
Because preparing for the year ahead isn’t only about getting our kids ready. It’s also about preparing ourselves to be the parents they need in the season ahead.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

You Can't Own It All: The Teenage Years — Managing Your Responsibilities Without Owning Theirs
When our teenagers make poor choices, it’s easy to turn their mistakes into evidence of our failure as parents. We question what we missed, what we should have done differently, and whether we somehow got it wrong.
But there’s an important leadership distinction in the teenage years: we are responsible for our leadership, but we are not responsible for every choice our teenagers make.
In this third episode of Seasons of Leadership series, Jackie explores how parents can navigate the delicate balance between accountability and ownership. Using the Own, Influence, Release framework, she looks at what belongs to us, what we can shape, and what we eventually have to allow our teenagers to carry for themselves—including the consequences of their choices.
Because raising responsible adults sometimes requires resisting the urge to rescue them. We can hold our teens accountable, rebuild trust, and continue guiding them without carrying every decision as our own.
If this episode resonated with you, don't forget to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a parent who could use the reminder that we can love our teenagers deeply, hold them accountable, and lead them well—without carrying the weight of every choice they make.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

In the startup years of parenting, interruptions can feel like the enemy. Between work, responsibilities, and endless to-do lists, many parents spend their days trying to manage interruptions more effectively.
But what if we've been thinking about interruptions all wrong?
In this episode of the series, Seasons of Leadership: Helping Parents Become the Leaders Their Families Need—In Every Season, Jackie explores why some of the most important moments in family life arrive disguised as interruptions. Through personal stories, leadership lessons, and two practical tools—Stop and Count and Think in Common—she challenges parents to rethink the moments they're tempted to rush past.
Because sometimes the interruption isn't getting in the way of the work.
It is the work.
If this episode resonated with you, don't forget to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a parent who could use the reminder that some of the moments that shape a family arrive disguised as interruptions.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

Graduation is often celebrated as a milestone for our children—but what if it’s also a profound leadership transition for parents?
In this deeply reflective episode kicking off the new Seasons of Leadership series, Jackie explores the emotional and identity shifts that accompany graduation season and the evolving role parents must learn to embrace as their children step into adulthood.
Through personal stories, leadership insights, and honest reflections on letting go, control, purpose, and rediscovering ourselves beyond constant management, Jackie invites listeners to reconsider graduation not as the end of parenting, but as the beginning of a new leadership season.
This episode is for any parent navigating the beautiful and often disorienting tension between holding on and releasing well.
Because healthy leadership was never meant to create permanent dependence—it was meant to prepare people to stand.
If this episode resonated with you, don’t forget to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a parent walking through graduation season and wondering what this next chapter is asking of them too.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

In this episode of The Business of Parenting Podcast, Jackie returns with a timely conversation about leading your family with purpose in a busy season. Life does not always slow down when we need it to, and most parents cannot wait for the calendar to clear before parenting with intention.
Jackie explores why purpose becomes even more important, not less, when family life feels stretched, rushed, or overwhelming. Purpose does not remove the busyness, but it helps us decide what matters most inside it.
Through a practical leadership lens, this episode offers three simple ways to return to purpose at home: finding the “good enough mark,” looking for meaningful minute moments of connection, and modeling grace instead of perfection.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to like, follow, subscribe, or leave a review/comment to let us know what resonated most, and share it with a parent who might need the reminder that you don’t have to wait for life to calm down to lead your family with love, intention, and purpose.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com 

In this supplemental episode of the Partnering for Life mini-series, Jackie speaks directly to single parents and sole decision-makers at home. Drawing from her experience being raised by a single mother, she reflects on what strong leadership looks like from a child’s perspective and reframes family leadership through the lens of the “sole founder.” This episode explores how clarity, support systems, sustainable rhythms, and internal alignment help single parents lead with confidence, build stability, and shape lasting family culture.
If this episode resonated, please follow along, leave a review, or share it with a parent who might need the reminder that leading alone doesn’t mean leading without strength or strategy.
 
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Jackie Mourot, Ed.D.Produced by: The Business of ParentingOriginal Music: No Roots — composed and produced by Matheo Mourot © 2025. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Learn more: TheBusinessofParenting.com | MommyDoubles.com