Cultivate Contentment

About Cultivate Contentment

Are you a rural farming woman, wife, or mother struggling to find peace in your busy life? Do you find yourself trying to squeeze joy out of your daily routine, manage stress that seems never-ending, and somehow reconnect with your passions in the midst of it all? Do you love your rural life yet often feel overwhelmed by the challenges it brings? Welcome to "Cultivate Contentment," the podcast designed just for you. I'm Jessica Knight, a fellow rural woman, wife, and mother. I get it—I've been there, right there in the trenches, juggling the demands of farm life, motherhood, and trying to keep my sanity intact. I understand the challenges you face every day. From being a first-generation dairy farmer to raising three energetic boys, I'm right there with you, navigating the ups and downs of rural life. Come along with me and my guests as we explore balancing farm life with personal needs on a realistic level, practical ways to sprinkle a little joy and peace into your daily routine, nurturing relationships without losing your sense of self, and how to keep stress at bay and prevent burnout. All while staying focused on what we really want; feeling content and settled in our lives. This is a show to delve into the heart of your daily struggles and triumphs, providing practical advice and heartfelt support to help you find peace and fulfillment in your unique journey. I know how hard it can be to juggle the responsibilities of farm life, motherhood, and personal well-being. "Cultivate Contentment" aims to be your companion and guide, offering insights and strategies that resonate with your experiences. So, whether you're savoring a cup of coffee before the morning chaos begins, stealing a moment of quiet on your drive to town, or popping in your earbuds while wrestling with laundry and dishes, I invite you to join me. Let's laugh, learn, and cultivate contentment together.

Publisher

Jess Knight

Category

health & fitness · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Jun 2024

Latest episode

26 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

52 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Mar 2026

   I Love My Life But Something Isn’t Working

   This episode has been sitting with me while I’ve been working on Back to Herself… not because I was trying to come up with something to say, but because I kept noticing this same feeling come up again and again in conversations. It’s that stage where nothing in your life looks wrong. Everything is working. Your days are full, your family is cared for, the farm is moving, and on paper it all makes sense. But underneath that, something doesn’t feel quite right anymore. It doesn’t hit when life is busy. In those seasons, you don’t have time to think about it. It shows up in the quiet moments… when you’re doing the school pick-up, folding the washing, sitting in the ute for a minute. Those small, in-between moments where your mind drifts and you catch yourself thinking… is this it? And then just as quickly, you move on. This episode sits in that space. The space before anything changes. Before you’ve said it out loud. Before you’ve figured out what to do next. Because sometimes the hardest part isn’t that something isn’t working… it’s admitting it. We talk about the tension of loving your life but still wanting more, the guilt that comes with that, and the fear of what it might mean if you actually let yourself be honest about it. If you’ve ever felt like something is slightly off but you can’t quite explain why, or you’ve had that quiet thought of “I want more… or something” and then pushed it away, this episode will feel familiar. And if you are sitting in that space right now, this is exactly why I created Back to Herself. Not for when everything is clear, but for this stage… when you can feel it, but you haven’t quite known what to do with it yet. The waitlist is open now, and early bird opens next week. In this episode, I talk about: The quiet awareness that something doesn’t feel right, even when life looks good on the outside Why this feeling shows up in the quiet moments, not the busy ones The small, passing thoughts we brush off (is this it? what if I did something different?) The difference between comparison and curiosity The weight of saying “I want more” and the guilt that comes with it How we soften or explain away what we’re really feeling Outgrowing the version of yourself that built your current life When routines and habits that once supported you start to feel restrictive The fear of what change might mean for your identity, your family, and your role Why we stay where we are, even when it doesn’t feel quite right anymore The “in-between” space before anything changes Why admitting it is often the hardest part Back to Herself Waitlist (https://jessknight.myflodesk.com/waitlist) Contact Jess Instagram @thejess.knight (https://www.instagram.com/thejess.knight/) www.jessknight.com (http://www.jessknight.com)

2. 

   19 Mar 2026

   When Responsibility Becomes Your Whole Identity

   This episode came from a season where everything just felt… full. Calving, sickness in the house, the boys starting football, in-laws away, building Back to Herself in the background. Nothing unusual on its own, but all sitting together at once. And in that, I started noticing something I think a lot of women experience, but don’t always name. How responsibility doesn’t just sit in your life… it slowly becomes your life. From the outside, it often looks like everything is working. You’re showing up, getting things done, holding everything together. People tell you you’re doing well, that you handle so much, that you make it look easy. And maybe part of you believes that, because you are doing it. But underneath that, there can be a quieter realisation. That your life has slowly become a list of roles and responsibilities. Mum. Partner. Farmer. Worker. Community member. The one who remembers everything. The one who manages everything. And somewhere in that… the person underneath gets quieter. In this episode, I talk through the moment I first really saw this in myself, sitting in a leadership program where I was asked to describe who I was outside of my roles… and realised I couldn’t. I share how becoming the stay-at-home parent led to a natural progression of taking on more and more responsibility over time, how I became the “default person” for everything in our family, and how that role, while necessary and even valuable, slowly became the framework I lived inside. We also explore the idea of an “identity state” — the roles and stories we create about who we are, and how over time, they can become so fixed that stepping outside of them feels uncomfortable, or even a bit scary. This isn’t just about motherhood. This can happen in any area of life. On the farm, in a job, in community roles. Anywhere responsibility keeps building without you really noticing… until one day it feels like too much, or like there’s no space left for you. This episode isn’t about fixing that. It’s about recognising it. Because often, this is the point where things start to shift. In this episode, I cover: How responsibility can slowly become your whole identity Why capable women often become the “default person” for everything The natural progression of taking on more (and why you don’t notice it happening) The hidden weight of responsibility without recognition The concept of an “identity state” and how roles become who we are The tension of stepping outside a role you’ve lived in for so long Why this stage often feels like competence from the outside The small, quiet signs that you might have lost touch with yourself The question that often begins the shift: when did I last do something just because I wanted to? If this episode felt familiar, if you found yourself in parts of it, this is exactly the space that Back to Herself is designed for. It’s not about walking away from your responsibilities or becoming someone new. It’s about creating space to reconnect with who you are underneath all of it, and starting to shift your life in a way that includes you again. Spots are limited, and women on the waitlist will receive access to a special discount when doors open. Back to Herself Waitlist (https://jessknight.myflodesk.com/waitlist) Contact Jess Instagram @thejess.knight (https://www.instagram.com/thejess.knight/) www.jessknight.com (http://www.jessknight.com)

3. 

   4 Mar 2026

   What I Didn’t Expect About Raising Boys

   In this episode, I’m talking through something that’s been sitting with me lately — what it’s actually like raising three boys as they grow out of little kid years and into their own personalities. My oldest has just started high school. My middle son is nearly finished primary school. My youngest is nine and still soft in that way only nine-year-olds can be. And I’m realising that the picture I had — even unconsciously — about what “raising boys” would look like doesn’t quite match reality. Yes, our house is loud. There are cricket bags in the hallway, football boots under the couch, Minecraft battles in the lounge room and someone being tackled in the kitchen at least once a day. The overstimulation is real. But underneath the noise and the sport and the wrestling, there’s so much more. There are frogs and mealworms. There are space facts and wormholes. There are big emotions and quiet worries about fitting in. There are questions about body image and confidence that I didn’t expect boys to carry in the same way girls do. There are conversations at the kitchen bench about anxiety and friendship and what to do when something feels hard. This episode isn’t about parenting advice. It’s about releasing expectations. About letting go of the unspoken “script” for what boys are meant to be like. About recognising that even in a house full of sport and noise, each child is wired differently. I share what surprised me, what overwhelmed me when I was younger and didn’t understand little boys at all, and what I’m seeing now as my sons become their own people. If you’re raising boys — especially in a loud, busy, rural household — I hope this feels like recognition. In this episode we talk about: Why homes with multiple boys can feel overstimulating The stereotype of the “boy mum” house — and what it misses Raising three very different personalities under one roof Supporting a child who doesn’t fit the typical sport mould The emotional side of boys that often goes unnoticed Body image, confidence and fitting in during the teen years The importance of safe adults outside the family Releasing expectations and letting boys be who they are @thejess.knight (https://www.instagram.com/thejess.knight/) Join the Back to Herself Waitlist (https://jessknight.myflodesk.com/waitlist)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

64

Social presence

94

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Cultivate Contentment

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.