In this episode of the HerStory Podcast, host Kylie King sits down with the iconic Leonie Dawson – entrepreneur, author, and creative mentor who has redefined what it means to be successful in business. Leonie shares her incredible journey from a high-stakes Australian government job in Canberra to building a creative empire that has generated over $14 million in revenue all while working just 10 hours a week.

Leonie provides a candid look at the “right-sizing” of her business, explaining why she walked away from a massive team and 80,000-package logistics to return to a simplified, high-profit model that honours her health and family. From homeschooling adventures to her famous “no social media” experiment and her secret erotic novella, this conversation is a masterclass in trusting your intuition, rejecting hustle culture, and finding abundance on your own terms.

 

What You’ll Learn in Episode 33

  • How Leonie generated $14 million in revenue while strictly limiting her work to 10 hours a week by focusing only on needle-moving tasks.

  • The reality behind “right-sizing” a business and why Leonie decided to dismantle a team of 20 employees to return to a simpler, more profitable solo model.

  • Why Leonie views a traditional job as a “seed investor” rather than a failure and how she transitioned incrementally over eight years.

  • Insights from her two-year experiment of quitting social media and how she maintained business growth through email marketing and free value.

  • The importance of the “Hedgehog Concept” in staying focused on what you are good at, what people want, and what you love to do.

  • How Leonie manages her business as a neurodivergent creative and why protecting her nervous system is a higher priority than constant growth.

  • The benefits of spontaneous launching and why planning too far in advance can sometimes kill the creative magic in a business.

  • Why “quantity of time” with family and a gentle life are better indicators of success than external trappings or massive staffing levels.

Guest: Leonie Dawson

Leonie Dawson is an internationally best-selling author of the 2024 My Brilliant Year workbooks (formerly known as the Goal Getter workbooks) which have been used by over 500,000 people worldwide.

A multi-passionate entrepreneur, Leonie has generated over $14 million in revenue while only working 10 hours a week. Leonie has been recognised for her business acumen by winning Ausmumpreneur’s People’s Choice Business Coach, Global Brand & Businesses Making A Difference Awards.

Leonie has spent the last 10 years living in some of the most beautiful places around Australia. She currently lives with her two daughters and husband on the Sunshine Coast.

Leonie uses she/her pronouns.

 

Find Leonie:

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