Leanne on Demand Daily with Leanne Hughes

Read the articleThis year, I ran my entire consulting business solo. No staff. No office. Just me, my laptop, and 51 paid tools doing the work of bookings, editing, hosting, scheduling, storage, marketing, fitness, and even entertainment.Total spend $11,899 AUDBefore you jump to judgement, this episode isn’t about flexing tools or convincing you to buy anything.It’s about decision-making.I sat down and did a full tech audit. What I’m keeping. What I’ve cut. And what I’m seriously questioning going into next year.In this episode, I don’t read the full Substack article because it’s long and detailed. Instead, I share:Why I deliberately mix business and personal tech in one auditThe two rules I use to stop tools creeping out of controlThe platforms that genuinely earn their keepThe tools I probably should’ve cancelled earlierWhere I’m torn between “this works” and “this is just habit”You’ll hear why:I still pay a lot for Hello Audio and don’t regret itDescript is the reason this podcast even existsI don’t use a CRM or project management tool and why that’s intentionalI’m questioning long-term loyalty to ChatGPTYouTube Premium quietly became one of my best subscriptionsIf you’re a solopreneur, consultant, creator, or anyone running a one-person show, this episode will either make you feel very validated… or very itchy to open your subscriptions list.The full breakdown, including every tool, cost, category, and rationale, is linked in the show notes on Substack.Read it. Then audit your own setup.Because the real cost isn’t the software. It’s the indecision.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

Today I’m pulling back the curtain on a concept that sounds ridiculous until you realise it’s the only way a solopreneur actually scales: omnipresence.This episode starts with a text exchange I had with my mate Andy Storch a while back. He messaged me saying I’d shown up in his dream which, honestly, is the most unhinged KPI I’ve ever accidentally hit. We laughed about it, but the truth is this is what consistency does. Show up long enough in enough places and you start slipping into people’s subconscious without even trying.Where founders go wrong is assuming omnipresence requires grinding yourself into dust posting 8 times a day like a Gary V intern on Red Bull. It doesn’t. My daily podcast takes me ten minutes. My Substack does the heavy lifting for discoverability. Loom helps me show up as a human being without booking meetings I don’t need. A few intentional channels, used well, let me look “everywhere” while barely leaving my desk.I share a story from a conversation I had with a director who leads a burned-out team of trainers who believe the only way to deliver value is to be physically present. Their expertise is gold, but they’re treating it like a one-to-one transaction that requires flights, hotels and exhaustion. They’re missing the leverage in tools they already have access to.If you’re a founder or expert who is still relying on being in the room to make an impact, you’re playing far too small. There are easier, smarter ways to scale your influence without sacrificing your sanity, your time or your health.And yes, by the end of the episode, I remind you exactly where you’ll be seeing me next. Everywhere. Including your dreams.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

This episode is me calling myself out on one of the least sexy but most critical parts of running a business: money management. I’m great at the fun stuff. Give me a microphone, a client room, a blank page I’m happy. But ask me to open Xero every week and I’ll suddenly find seventeen other priorities.After coming back from Nepal, I finally logged into Xero expecting the usual admin slog. Instead, I found a new beta tool called JAX quietly sitting there waiting. And honestly, it punched way above its weight. It auto-suggested reconciliations, sorted categories and wiped out about 80 percent of the thinking work. For someone who normally has to Google charges and cross-reference my calendar like a forensic accountant, this was wild.But the part that really got my attention wasn’t the reconciling. It’s that JAX can answer financial questions, spot trends and give cash-flow insights on demand. Which makes me wonder: what happens to bookkeeping and accounting when your software starts offering real-time advice before a human even emails you?This episode is a look at the tool, the time it saved me and the bigger question I'm sitting with: Is this just a handy update or the start of a real shift in how small businesses handle finance?Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

There are 22 days left in the year, which means 22 episodes to go. If you want me to dissect anything before we wrap 2025, now is the time to speak up.I also share a big Con Con update. The venue is finally locked, and I drove down to see it myself because I refuse to run an event on “vibes only”. Expectations are high, and they should be. If I’m asking people to fly in, I need to build something that actually earns their time, not just their trust.Then I take you inside Sally Prosser’s book launch for Voiceprint. It was polished, warm, beautifully produced and then something happened that none of us could have scripted. Sally joked on stage that she wanted to give her book to Oprah, who’s in Brisbane this week. Fast-forward to today and… she did it. She literally handed Voiceprint to Oprah Winfrey. On video. In the wild. And the clip is one of the best things you’ll see online this year.More than anything, it’s a reminder that saying your hopes out loud isn’t naïve. It’s strategic. Sally declared it, her network moved, and a ridiculous dream became real within 24 hours. If you keep your ambitions locked inside because you’re scared of looking presumptuous, you’re slowing yourself down.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

This weekend was peak Aussie sport energy and I was all in. Cricket at the Gabba. A sweaty 10k run. And then casually bumping into Mackenzie Arnold at South Bank before 7am. Yes, I fan-girled. No, I don’t regret it.But the real fever kicking in right now is World Cup fever. The 2026 draw dropped and suddenly my calendar, my budget and my sense of logic are all in a cage match. I’ve already blocked out the Socceroos match days because let’s be real: nothing meaningful gets done in this country when the World Cup is on. I learned that the hard way in 2006 when I backpacked through Germany, scored golden-ticket access to the Aussie supporters, and ended up having one of the best months of my life sleeping in a makeshift campsite run by locals who fed us bratwurst and beer like it was oxygen.This episode is a mix of stories, nostalgia and a warning: you need to plan your life around this World Cup now, not later. These fixtures are prime time for a reason.If I can snag a ticket, I’m flying over for at least one match. No excuses. Life’s too short to sit on the sidelines.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

In this episode, I sit down with the delightful Lisa Evans, who went from midwife and neonatal nurse to executive speaker coach and “story midwife” in her forties. Lisa lost most of her hearing after a virus, had to walk away from a 25-year career, then rebuilt everything with a cochlear implant, public speaking and business storytelling. If you’ve ever told yourself “it’s too late” or “I’m not that type of person,” you need to hear this.We get into the very real stuff that stops smart people from speaking up, contributing in meetings and leading conversations: self doubt, imposter syndrome, dodgy psychological safety and poorly designed meetings that favour the fastest talker in the room. Lisa also shares a much more useful take on introversion and extroversion, and why “I’m an introvert” isn’t a get-out-of-jail card for hiding.We also pull back the curtain on how she actually designs workshops for technical leaders in mining and resources, how she works with hybrid rooms, and why “let’s just move it online” is often the worst sentence in L&D.In this conversation, you’ll hear:How a sudden, permanent hearing loss ended Lisa’s midwifery career and forced a complete reset in her fortiesThe moment a cochlear implant opened the door to speaking, storytelling and a new professional identityWhat really holds people back from speaking up in meetings, presentations and virtual callsWhy psychological safety is not a buzzword, it’s a pre-condition for contributionLisa’s take on introversion vs extroversion, and why it’s about how you recharge, not whether you “like people”How introverts can be powerful speakers and facilitators without pretending to be someone elseThe specific challenges of working with technical leaders and engineers who are told “tell more stories” but don’t know howHow Lisa designs her workshops so they’re customised, story-rich and flexible on the day (including how she “over-prepares” her slides so she can cut and pivot live) • • Why copying someone else’s high-energy style all day is a fast track to burnout and flat roomsSign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

I brought Sean D’Souza into a live community call and he promptly blew up every assumption we hold about marketing, overwhelm, scale and what it actually takes to run a profitable business without burning your life to the ground.This is the guy who has taken three months off every year for two decades, runs a wildly loyal global audience with zero drama, and still answers emails like a human. He’s the quietest operator in the room and somehow the one everyone keeps recommending.In this episode, we get into things founders hate admitting: spreading ourselves thin across 17 platforms, pretending we “should” be everywhere, chasing growth for no reason and ignoring the tiny cracks that are actually costing us clients.Sean breaks down • why you’re overwhelmed before you’ve even started • how to choose your one plate instead of juggling seven • the real difference between a homepage, a sales page and an article (and why most people butcher all three) • why your list doesn’t need to be big, it just needs to buy • how to market without shouting • why consulting, training and leverage are the only three lanes you need • how he built a business that funds his life instead of consuming itIf you’re tired of being told to sprint harder, this conversation will reset your thinking fast.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

In this episode I unpack the strange little origin story behind one of the biggest rivalries in sport and why it matters far more to your career than you think. It’s a reminder that the move that changes everything is usually the one you nearly talk yourself out of. A journalist in 1882 hit publish on a joke, and 140 years later we’re still living with the ripple effects.I also share the message I almost didn’t send to Justin Langer and what happened next. The lesson isn’t about cricket. It’s about upside, timing and the tiny asks we overthink into oblivion. If you’re playing small or rationalising your way out of opportunities, this one will sting a little.Expect stories, strategy, and a call-out on where you might be taking the safe option instead of the smart one.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

Today I unpack my love-hate relationship with LinkedIn, because something has shifted and pretending it hasn’t is a waste of time. I’ve been on that platform long enough to know when the vibe changes, and right now the mix of algorithm chaos and AI sludge is killing the experience.I talk through why I’ve gone from posting daily to posting… barely. Why the dribble in my feed makes me question people’s credibility. And why Substack, of all places, is pulling more of my attention than the platform that built a chunk of my business.This episode is part confession, part strategy check, and part reality check for anyone who’s relying on a single platform to grow their brand. I also share the unexpected upside of still showing up, including a meeting today that could lead to new work.If your relationship with LinkedIn feels off right now, this might hit a nerve.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

This morning’s episode comes straight from my parked car, because of course I arrived super early for a workshop again. People assume it’s discipline. It’s actually trauma from living near a bridge that collapses into chaos two days out of five. When you’ve been trapped on a 15-minute drive that suddenly becomes a 60-minute crawl, you learn to get ahead of the nonsense.But today my early arrival came with a twist. The $354 million bridge upgrade finally opened its new lanes this week. And watching it unfold over the last two years has genuinely impressed me. Not because the construction was quick. It wasn’t. It was because the disruption was almost nothing. They managed a massive project in a way that barely touched most people’s day-to-day lives. That’s elite-level execution.It got me thinking about how often we convince ourselves that big goals must wreck our routines. Training for Everest Base Camp showed me the opposite. If you design the load, you can carry it.Then there’s the other side of the bridge metaphor. Are we actually solving the traffic problem, or just pushing the bottleneck further down the road? And how often do we do that in life and business? Delay decisions. Avoid clarity. Say yes to things our future selves will resent. Pretend the problem will magically disappear if we inch it a few kilometres out of sight.Sometimes the bravest move is pulling the issue into the present and asking the uncomfortable question: “If I had to do this today, would I say yes?”Anyway, I'm off to find a coffee before the room opens. Enjoy the episode.Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame.Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.comP.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help:Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Let's connect on all the channels:Leanne Hughes on LinkedInLeanne Hughes on InstagramVisit my website: leannehughes.comEmail me: hello@leannehughes.comWould you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.