Episodes

AI is everywhere, and depending on who you listen to, it’s either going to make our working lives dramatically better or completely destroy our careers. I’m replaying a conversation I had with the rock star of consulting, Alan Weiss, on Talk the Walk. We called it Winning the AI Wrestling Match because I wanted to have a more useful conversation than the usual “AI is coming for your job” doom loop. Alan’s view? Stop panicking. AI will absolutely displace some work. But every major technologi...

I recorded this one in Melbourne with my good friend Dr. Jason Fox, one of Australia's Keynote Speakers of the Year, where we'd spent a couple of days together crafting a keynote based on Work Fame. In this episode Jason and I talk through what we've actually been building: an energetic arc that takes a room, sceptics included, from where they are to somewhere new, built around the contribution idea from the book. Jason walks through how we opened by naming the allergy a lot of people have to t...

Raygun: Work Fame Hero or Villain? I watched the Netflix documentary about Rachael Gunn, the Australian breakdancer who went viral at the Paris 2024 Olympics after scoring zero across three battles, mostly thanks to that infamous kangaroo and sprinkler routine. In this episode I ask whether Raygun is a work fame hero or a villain. I land on hero. Her style wasn't textbook, but she and her husband had total conviction in their own taste, and someone who competed at the Olympic qualifiers confirm...

I share a concept that almost made it into Work Fame but got cut in the edit: energy management, and what it really means to add value at work. I was reflecting on a self-imposed writing retreat to the Gold Coast in February, where I'd printed out my entire manuscript and chunked it into categories. In this episode I explain why this topic didn't survive that cut, even though I still think it matters. It centres on one of the book's core ideas, the contribution spotlight, and the assumption tha...

Leanne kicks off a pop-up podcast in the lead-up to the launch of her second book, Work Fame: Get the Projects, Promotions, and Perks You Deserve (Wiley), out 30 September 2026. If you followed her daily show Leanne On Demand last year, this feed is where it lives on, now with a Work Fame focus for the next month. In this episode, Leanne explains where the phrase "Work Fame" came from, what it means (a reputation that opens doors before you knock and attracts the right opportunities to you), an...

Alan and I catch up over coffee and martinis, talk weather and travel (including his Nantucket trip), and share updates on upcoming books and family projects. We dive into “you made it, now what?”—how successful people start asking “how much is enough?” and why the better question is “enough of what?” Alan argues success is about purpose, not endless accumulation, and warns about scarcity mindset, low self-esteem, and normative pressure to “beat the Joneses.” He shares practical markers of “enou...

Recorded live at ConCon on the Gold Coast, Alan and I covered everything from consulting, confidence and pricing through to AI, universities, ghosting, self-belief and even why he thinks consultants should stop calling themselves consultants. As always, Alan challenged conventional thinking with ideas that make you stop, question your assumptions and rethink how you're showing up in business. Some of the biggest ideas we explored include: Why calling yourself a consultant immediately puts you...

In this episode, I'm sharing an unexpected update on my next book, Work Fame: Get the Projects, Promotions, and Perks You Deserve. Check out the book pre-order site! What started as a routine conversation with my publisher quickly turned into a full-blown pre-order campaign. I discovered the book was already available online for pre-order, sooner than expected, which meant it was time to shift gears and start thinking seriously about marketing. Rather than following the same approach I used f...

Using Language to Increase Value, Demand, and Influence (with Alan Weiss) I chat with Alan Weiss about his recent Europe trip (Portugal, London, Paris), including Portugal’s popularity, walking Lisbon’s steep hills, high tea at The Ritz, a Paris boutique hotel with a private garden, and the relaxed café culture compared to timed American restaurants. We then dive into how to use language to increase your value, demand, and influence: creating vivid verbal pictures with metaphor, analogy, and st...

eanne Hughes and Alan Weiss explore what it really takes to design premium client experiences — from large-scale thought leadership conferences to intimate high-touch group gatherings in penthouse suites around the world. Alan shares the frameworks, courage, and lifestyle philosophy behind his most successful events, and Leanne reflects on her own recent red carpet camp-out experience. Topics Covered Defining high-end experiences — Alan's two models: large group conferences (125–150 people) vs....

I jumped in for a spontaneous popup episode to share a conversation I had on The Solo Sauce podcast. We recorded it just before I flew to Nepal, I was in that messy in-between state where I was trying to wrap things up, thinking about what’s next, and not overthinking my answers. Which means what you’ll hear is probably closer to how I actually think. Joeri and I got into: the workshop disaster in Canada that accidentally kicked off my career how a podcast turned into a brand, a book, and re...

What makes someone more interesting, more insightful, and better at what they do? In this episode of Talk the Walk, Leanne and Alan go well beyond business. They explore why a full life outside work, including hobbies, culture, travel, current events, films, ideas, and even the everyday chaos of tradies and repairs, can sharpen your thinking rather than distract from it. Alan shares why the most valuable consultants are often polymaths, not specialists trapped in a narrow lane. From Oscar film...

In this episode of Talk the Walk, Leanne and Alan Weiss kick off with ducks, snow and martinis… and end up in a sharp conversation about ego, esteem and why most professionals are letting the wrong thing drive their behaviour. If you’ve ever: Second-guessed yourself after one critical comment Obsessively checked feedback scores Felt like an imposter despite evidence you’re good at what you do Avoided posting, pitching or pushing back This one’s for you. From ducks to dignity Alan shares ...

My latest article is all about extracting your ROI - listen in! Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.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 LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website...

If you’re feeling pressure to make 2026 bigger, faster, cleaner, or more impressive than last year, this episode cuts through that noise quickly. What you’ll hear in this episode Why New Year’s resolutions create unnecessary pressure and disappointment The difference between patience and procrastination, and how fear shows up in both Why changing expectations is a strength, not a character flaw The “mercy rule” we all need for projects, careers, and goals that aren’t working How smart peop...

This is it. Episode 365. The last time I open the podcast with those words. This episode isn’t a neat bow or a highlight reel. It’s a real reflection on what it actually takes to show up every single day for a year, without fireworks, without drama, and without pretending it was always fun. I talk about why documenting the year mattered more than “performing” it, and how most of the work happened quietly in between the milestones. The Everest Base Camp analogy still holds. You get there… and i...

This is the second-last episode of this daily podcast project, and honestly, I didn’t come in with some big, profound lesson lined up. I just wanted to share something that happened. On Sunday, Chris and I were out driving his 1979 Trans Am. Black. V8. Screaming chicken on the bonnet. Full Smokey and the Bandit vibes. A bird decided to do its business right on the hood, so we pulled into a servo to wash it off. As we were about to leave, we noticed eight to ten American classic cars parked ne...

Only three episodes left in this daily podcast experiment. In this episode, I’m sharing a deceptively simple icebreaker I picked up at a Brisbane rooftop event that involved good wine, smart people, and an afternoon of intentional pour choices. During a conversation with Niha, she described a workshop activity called The Animal Game. W Here’s how it works. You choose three animals, one at a time, without overthinking it: For each animal, you note two traits that feel accurate. The twist in...

Today’s guest is Tim Ferguson, CEO of Audience, joining me from Switzerland. If you’ve ever walked into a workshop and felt your soul quietly leave your body, Tim is one of the people trying to stop that from happening. This conversation is a masterclass in what great facilitation actually looks like when it’s done properly. Tim doesn’t treat “engagement” like a nice-to-have. He treats it like the job. We talk about Tim’s wild career pivots, starting as a day camp counsellor, then theatre scho...

Today I sat down with Jan Keck (a self-proclaimed “community addict”) whose tagline is “Let’s have conversations that matter.” Jan created Ask Deep Questions, which started as a deck of cards to help friends connect on a camping trip and has since grown into a global tool for facilitating meaningful conversations. We talked about the real stuff: loneliness in a hyper-connected world, how to build belonging without forcing it, and how to hold space when things get awkward or emotional, especiall...

I’m recording this on Christmas Day, full festive mode, about to eat and drink everything in sight. But first, I squeezed in a proper workout. A 45-minute Peloton bike bootcamp with Tunde that absolutely cooked my legs. After that, I did something very on-brand for me. I impulse-bought a $29 USD online course off Instagram and gave it a crack straight away. It was an intro to shuffle dancing from an account called Shuffle Mums. If you’ve seen shuffling before, you’ll know it’s fast footwork, c...

In this Christmas Day episode, I’m recording fresh off a humid Brisbane hike and a lot of thinking time. I expand on yesterday’s conversation about media and platforms, and get specific about two things I’m genuinely prioritising in the year ahead. First, private podcasts. I break down what they are, why I’ve been using them for years, and why I think they’re one of the most underrated tools for client delivery, learning on the go, and building trust without spraying content everywhere. I sha...

In this episode, I walk through the social media platforms I actually use, why I still use them, and what’s staying or shifting as I head into the new year. Earlier this year, I published a deep dive on my $11K tech stack. This conversation is the companion piece, focused purely on social and media platforms. The question I’m asking myself is simple: Why am I here? And is it still doing the job? Here’s the rundown. LinkedIn This is my main business platform. It’s where I share ideas, test th...

I recorded this episode late. All year I’ve been disciplined. Daily episodes. Even from Nepal with poor internet And yet here I am, back home, beachy, relaxed, watching eight hours of cricket… and suddenly a three-minute podcast feels heavy. That’s the bit I wanted to call out. It’s not that the work is hard. It’s that the perception of effort ramps up when you’re in soft mode. When you’re already moving, working, exercising, creating, the extra thing barely registers. When you’ve gone full c...