Episodes

With 122 days to go until I head off to Nepal for the Everest Base Camp trek and the 6,200m Lobuche climb (still can’t believe I just said that 😳), training is getting real. And I had a massive realisation this week — climbing a mountain feels easier than prepping for one! This episode is a behind-the-scenes update on how my marathon mindset is being completely reworked. I used to run four days a week. Now I’m training six out of seven — and while the effort feels lower in intensity, the consis...

Welcome to the Weekend Rewind! Today, I’m sharing a conversation with someone I’ve had the privilege of knowing (and Zooming with!) for years—Jeff Skipper. Jeff and I first met virtually through Alan Weiss’s consulting community, and finally caught up in person in Hawaii last year. He's not only a generous peer, but also a powerhouse when it comes to leading change in organisations. With over 25 years of experience, Jeff’s worked with giants like IBM, Goldman Sachs, and the Salvation Army, help...

Today, I’m bringing you a past conversation that’s packed with insight, energy, and career wisdom—my chat with the brilliant John McKendry. John McKendry is a senior healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical, medtech, and healthtech industries. He is passionate about business transformation and lifescience leadership. John’s career arc is the stuff of Netflix series. From growing up in Canada to jumping headfirst into expat life in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and S...

I’m reading out my latest Work Fame article, and it’s all about envy. Yep, that tight feeling you get when someone you know just posted another win on LinkedIn and your stomach does a backflip. We all feel it. But instead of letting it eat us alive or make us scroll angrily through our feed, what if we used envy as a breadcrumb trail toward what we really want? In this episode, I cover: 💥 The difference between jealousy and envy (they're not the same!) 💥 Why envy is actually a shortcut to fi...

We’re officially at the halfway point of this daily podcast experiment — episode 184. Wild, right? I feel pretty proud that it’s still going… even prouder that you’re still listening. Today’s episode is a bit of a zoom-out reflection: How the show started as an off-the-cuff commitment in a speaker mastermind What it’s actually become And where I see it heading for the rest of the year If you’re new here (welcome!), or you’ve been dipping in whenever a title hooks you — thank you. This show ...

Hey! Have you ever been told to slow down at work—even when you thought you were helping? On a recent hike, I was listening to 10x is Easier Than 2x and heard a phrase I’d never come across before: Rate Buster. It stopped me in my tracks—because suddenly, so many weird experiences I’d had in past roles made total sense. In this episode, I unpack: What a Rate Buster actually is (hint: it’s not a compliment in traditional workplaces) Why high performers can accidentally threaten the status quo...

Over the weekend, I casually dropped the term Vibe Coding on my Instagram story and was hit with a wave of DMs asking, “What is that?” Fair question. In today’s episode, I break down what vibe coding is (in simple, non-tech speak), why it’s wild, and how it’s going to totally change the way we build things — even if you’re not a developer. Here’s the gist: Vibe coding = describing what you want in plain English, and AI builds the tool for you. I give examples of how I’ve used it already (he...

Today’s episode starts off with a voice note from my friend James Carpenter, who’s living the dream right now—watching cricket live in the West Indies. He gives us a front-row seat to the current series, but what really sparked this episode was his mention of West Indies bowler Shamar Joseph—a name that instantly transported me back to his jaw-dropping performance in Brisbane a couple years ago. In this ep, I: 🗣️ Play JC’s audio straight from Kensington Oval in Barbados 🏏 Reflect on the abso...

Thanks for jumping into the weekend with me — and for this one, we're rewinding way back to the early days of First Time Facilitator (think 2018!). In just 40 minutes, Sue dishes out some of the most practical, grounded advice I've heard on facilitation — especially around why preparation is everything. She shares how she moved from nursing and policy work into the world of facilitation, how she navigates introversion, and why her planning process is the thing that gives her confidence to own t...

Hey, it’s Leanne! This one’s a rewind worth re-listening to — my live convo with Alan Weiss on Talk the Walk. We jammed on a topic close to my heart: why ambiguity isn’t the enemy — it’s actually your unfair advantage. If you’ve ever stalled on a decision, waited for clarity before making a move, or felt paralyzed by the unknown — this one’s for you. Alan was in classic form: hilarious, sharp, and wildly quotable. We talk about: ✅ Why waiting for clarity is socially acceptable procrastination...

This one is straight from the Work Fame Substack — and it’s a story I didn’t expect to write when I started typing. I thought I was going to talk about how podcasting has helped my career… but then this angle took over, and I ran with it. So today, I’m sharing: 🧠 How a $107 microphone completely shifted how people perceived me 💥 Why first impressions are less about what you say and more about how you signal your value 🎤 The surprising science behind audio quality and credibility (yes, there'...

This one’s been simmering in my head all week—after so many convos about accountability, ownership, and what it really means to step up, whether you're running a business or just starting your career. We talk a lot about "acting like an owner"—but what does that actually look like? Today, I'm sharing a story I love (yes, it involves a pygmy hippo 🦛), and why the most game-changing moves in your career or business usually aren’t on your position description. Here’s what we cover: The differen...

In this episode, I take you back to 2009—before podcasting, before The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint, before I had even thought about creating a business. This was the year I made my first ever passive income sale. It was $18.95. And honestly? It changed my life. Here’s what I share: The exact moment I discovered the idea of passive income (shoutout to The 4-Hour Work Week 🙌) The niche product I created (hint: netball coaching + teenage shooters) How I used Clippy (!!) and a proofreader from th...

Okay, I need to share something wild with you. I uploaded my book The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint into Google LM Notebook (think: a tool like ChatGPT), and asked it to summarise the key concepts. What it gave me? Not just a summary—but a full-on, human-sounding podcast-style conversation between two people. And honestly? If I didn’t know it was AI, I wouldn’t believe it either. In this episode, you’ll hear that conversation—think of it as a friendly, curious duo discovering the SPARK framework,...

Tonight, I’m not under the lights for footy or cricket. I’m at the Gabba — sleeping out under the stars with some phenomenal humans — all to help stamp out homelessness as part of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. In this episode, I chat with three legends doing incredible work: 💬 Steve Hodgson shares why mental health and homelessness are closely linked, and why this event is just the beginning of his commitment. 💬 Matt Kratiuk (who I call “the GOAT”) breaks down how fundraising becomes fun-draising...

Absolute blast from the past! I'm diving back into 2020 with this gem: A replay of a webinar I co-hosted with my friend (and innovation guru) Joeri Schilders, who you might remember from his previous appearances on the show. Back when Zoom fatigue was real and the pivot to virtual had us all scrambling, Yuri and I created something called Virtually Possible. We believed (and still do!) that it is possible to recreate the magic of in-person workshops—without needing a studio setup, mega budget, ...

When I first started facilitating, I saw flip charts as a tool to scribble brainstorms or sketch a quick model. That all changed when I met today's guest, Marcel van Hove, who showed me how whiteboards and markers can be used to solve complex problems, de-escalate conflict, and create incredible team collaboration. In this episode, Marcel shares: How he went from software geek to visual facilitation geek The German roots of the Bikablo method (and what it actually means) Why drawing with oth...

Hey friends, welcome back to Leanne on Demand! If you’re listening in real time, it’s Friday and I’ve (hopefully!) just arrived home after sleeping out in the cold for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout — I’ll debrief all of that with you next week. Today’s convo? Well, it’s fresh. Like, still-haven’t-recovered-my-voice fresh. I’ve got the delightful Jade Miller back on the pod — she joined me and Steve Demedio this week as one of the founding participants at the Red Carpet Campout. We’re debriefing fro...

Hey hey! This one’s a little different—recorded from the passenger seat, not the studio, because we’re fresh off the Red Carpet Campout and I wanted to capture the vibe in real-time. I'm joined by my co-host, the always-thoughtful Steven Demedio (driving!) and Jade Miller (in the backseat, with great vibes), as we exit the magical Spicers Canopy retreat. In this debrief, we share: 🔥 Why having no signal was exactly what we all needed 🔥 The surprising benefits of doing less content and creatin...

*New* You're invited to join Leanne's free community, Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are three ways I can help: Watch My 2025 Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event. Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint. Red Carpet Campout: Inspire, Indulge, Invent. Let’s take your ideas outside in June 2025. Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne ...

Hey there! I'm currently off-grid at the Red Carpet Campout (yep, the forecast says -4°C 🥶), so today I’m sharing something from my WorkFame newsletter that’s been getting a great response. This episode is based on my article: How to Get a Meeting With Anyone — where I break down the three tactics that have helped me book time with incredibly busy humans (even when they’re “too busy” for coffee). It all started back in my corporate days, when a random lunch invite turned into a surreal opportu...

Welcome back to part two of my mini-series on Nine Powerful Ways to Get Buy-In — tactics I really wish I knew when I first started working on cross-functional projects in big, global companies. Last week, we covered the first five strategies (like pre-sell your idea and ditch the pitch), and today we’re wrapping things up with the final four — and these ones bring the juice. Here’s what I cover in this episode: 6. Use social proof + create FOMO I share why your idea becomes more magnetic when...

This Weekend Rewind takes you back to a rich, practical, laugh-filled conversation with the incredible David Pullin — founder of The Story Spotters, former NIDA grad, professional actor, voice artist, and an absolute legend when it comes to using stories to engage, influence and connect. Since this episode aired, I’ve actually had the chance to hang out with David in real life — we shared a brilliant long lunch with some fabulous folks in London. He’s even more delightful IRL (if that’s possibl...

Welcome to this Weekend Rewind edition of Talk the Walk — where coffee meets conversation and martinis mix with mindset shifts. In this episode, we explore a bold (and slightly cheeky) question: Can you really get paid to be yourself? Alan Weiss — aka the Rockstar of Consulting — says yes, and he should know. From flat tires on Bentleys to 17-day certifications crammed into a weekend, Alan shares hilarious and hard-hitting stories about value, visibility, and self-worth. Inside this episode: ...