Autism Parenting and Personal Growth: Jess Daily on Boundaries, Rest, and Community

Autism parenting often requires mothers to live at full capacity—emotionally, physically, and mentally. In this conversation, Sarah Kernion sits down with Jess Daily, coach, podcast host, and mother of a child with profound autism and a rare genetic condition, to explore what it means to build a life that is not just survivable, but sustainable. Jess’s journey into motherhood began unexpectedly through foster care and evolved into advocacy and deep personal transformation. Drawing from both professional experience in consulting and her lived reality as an autism parent, she shares how intentional boundaries, nervous system regulation, and community support can help caregivers move beyond survival mode. Together they discuss the delicate balance between career, caregiving, and self-preservation, as well as the importance of slowing down enough to recognize the small moments that define parenting children with complex needs. At the heart of the conversation is a simple but powerful truth: autism parenting is not a journey meant to be navigated alone. When mothers connect, reflect, and support one another, resilience becomes something shared rather than carried in isolation. Jess Daily is a personal and professional coach, podcast co-host, and special needs parent who knows firsthand what it means to live at full capacity. After 15 years in business consulting and HR tech, she co-founded SBF Studio, where she helps people move from survival mode to sustainable living through her Space. Boundaries. Forward. framework. As a parent to a child with profound autism and a rare genetic condition, she brings lived experience to her work around rest, nervous system regulation, and building a life that actually fits. She coaches, she writes, and she keeps it real. You can find her Substack JXTPSTN here: https://jessicadaily.substack.com/ Chapters (00:00:00) - Inchtones: A Mother's Story With Special Needs(00:00:45) - What is Your Story of Parenthood?(00:04:38) - Why I Slow Down in My Career(00:11:26) - A Special Needs Parent's Need for Space(00:17:24) - Reorienting to Normal after a Child's Cancer Diagnosis(00:24:44) - Jess Daly on Her Special Needs Mom Journey