Her Creative Empire

Send us Fan Mail In this little riff, I'm talking about what happened after I offered a photo shoot to a teenage girl who had been excluded from her prom experience and the reel that followed unexpectedly reached millions of people. But this episode isn't really about virality. It's about what happens when visibility shows up before alignment. It's about strangers suddenly thin...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I explore the tension between coaching women on identity, confidence, and business — and photographing teenage girls in fun, styled sessions. At first, those paths felt disconnected. But the more I sat with it, the more I realized they share the same purpose: helping people feel confident, safe, and comfortable in who they are, just at different stages of life. I...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you build your business without following what everyone else in your industry is doing? In this off-the-cuff episode, I share why I’ve never been to a photography conference or workshop (even though I’m hosting one) and how staying outside the usual industry noise has actually been an advantage. I’m seeing more and more people overwhelmed from taking courses, fol...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a year-end reflection, but not the polished, tie-it-up-with-a-bow kind. I’m talking about the signals I couldn’t ignore this year, even when it would have been easier to keep going as usual. I share why the end of the year feels so loud, how easy it is to drown in other people’s opinions and expectations, and what finally made me stop negotiating with myself. In th...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when your life falls apart… and you book a one-way ticket to Italy anyway? At 44, with no plan and no art background, Kippi Leonard did exactly that—and everything changed. In this episode, I talk to Kippi about the solo trip that sparked a complete reinvention. From her first emotional moment in front of Michelangelo’s David to selling her paintings for five figures,...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode, I’m talking about grit —the unglamorous, sweaty, get-back-up-again kind. The kind that shows up when your house burns down. (Yep, that happened.) The kind that keeps you going when your catalog business tanks spectacularly. (Also me.) And the kind that lets you smile through a massively awkward, under-attended ballroom event where you hired a band, belly danc...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m talking with beauty influencer and author Lauren Hale , who went from teaching kindergarten in Idaho to building a thriving online business with nearly a million followers . She’s known for helping women feel confident in their skin through makeup that actually works for aging faces — but her story is about so much more than eyeliner. We talk about: The moment...

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on my story — the whole messy, magical, not-always-pretty truth about how I went from single mom in survival mode to professional photographer with a thriving business. You’ll hear about the freedom of my wild childhood, the influence of a fearless mother, and the power of curiosity and reinvention. I’ll take you through the leap...

Send us Fan Mail I couldn’t think of a better way to kick things off than with Angie Monson—creative entrepreneur, global retreat founder, photographer, and all-around soulful badass. Angie turned her passion into a career that lets her travel the world, host transformational retreats in places like Bali, Morocco, Croatia, and Italy, and live life on her own terms. In this episode, we dive deep in...

Send us Fan Mail In this very first episode of Her Creative Empire, Leah shares the spark that inspired the podcast—an honest reflection on female friendship, ambition, motherhood, and the quiet longing for deeper connection. She opens up about always feeling like she didn’t quite fit in traditional circles, and how one brutally honest character from White Lotus helped her realize she wasn’t “too...