Leanne on Demand Daily with Leanne Hughes

Today’s walk-and-talk episode is all about a brilliant story that came out of a Work Fame webinar I ran this week. One of the participants shared how, in her very first week at a big multinational, she got asked to get a CEO’s signature. Instead of following “the process,” she simply went upstairs, knocked on the door, and asked directly. The CEO was delighted, signed the papers, and she came back...

So… five minutes before I hit record today, I did something I’ve never done before: I pre-ordered a piece of tech that hasn’t even been made yet. Yep, I dropped $299 USD on a pair of Halo glasses from a startup called Brilliant Labs. Why? Because the potential of these open-source AI glasses absolutely blows my mind. In this episode, I riff on: Why I skipped my usual “wait for reviews” approach an...

Tonight’s episode wasn’t meant to be this one. I was planning to reflect on my Virgin Australia workshop (and my friend Sally Prosser’s brilliant cameo on voice skills)… but then dinner happened. I’ve got this little ritual: when I’ve had a big delivery week, I treat myself to a vegetarian plate from the local Greek takeaway. It’s my cozy, carb-loaded indulgence — chips, pita, zucchini fritters, t...

Today’s episode is a wild update on something I experimented with a few weeks back: my “job interview with the enemy.” If you missed it, I shared how I jumped on a tool called Tavi.ai that lets you do job interviews with AI avatars. Yep—imagine logging into Zoom and instead of a person on the other side, it’s a robot interviewing you for a role. Clunky? Sure. Fascinating? Absolutely. When I posted...

I was driving the other day, catching up on some old Alan Weiss recordings (yep, I upload them into my own private podcast feed so I actually listen to them instead of letting them die in a Dropbox folder). One simple but powerful Consulting 101 lesson hit me right between the eyes again: define your Min and Max before every conversation. Alan calls it MinMax — your minimum measure of success and...

I’m joined by Mark McKeon —ex-AFL player, high-performance coach with Collingwood, creator of The Go Zone and Everyday Counts . We dig into the real-world parallels between elite sport and facilitation: preparation, energy management, room design, AV (yes, batteries!), and what it truly means to be audience-centric . Why listen If you want practical, field-tested ways to run the room (from set-up...

If you’ve been hanging around here a while, you’ll know I love sport. Playing it, watching it, analyzing it—I’m in awe of what athletes and high-performing teams pull off under pressure. That’s why I was so excited to chat with today’s guest, Dr. Fergus Connolly. Fergus is a coach, teacher, mentor, author, speaker, and lifelong student of resilience. He’s worked with some of the biggest sporting a...

Hey, thanks for tuning in today! Yesterday I shared my crazy little experiment with you—what would happen if I gave myself just 12 hours to see if a brand-new event idea had legs? No venue, no speakers, no fancy marketing—just a vision, a date, a location, and a cap of 50 people. Here’s what went down: I put the idea out quietly—via a Substack PS, a couple of LinkedIn + Insta posts, and a waitlist...

Today’s episode is a first: I’m recording this while riding my exercise bike (training for Nepal waits for no one!). I wanted to share what’s happening in real time with Con Con . At this stage, it’s still a fictional event—but I’ve set up a 12-hour experiment to see if it should actually exist. Here’s the deal: I’ve locked the event at 50 spots only. I’m putting “Bold Action” tickets on sale for...

Truth be told, I had no idea what I was going to talk about when I hit record. So, I did what I often do when I’m stuck: I asked ChatGPT to give me 10 episode title ideas. Instead of choosing one, I decided to read them out loud and riff on each for about 30 seconds. We cover everything from my “two-drink test,” spotting everyday Work Fame moments, and why B-roll is actually the real show, through...

Today I’m answering a great question from a friend: “Do you decide to write a book and then pick the topic, or do you already have the topic and then decide to write?” For me, the answer was simple — I just wanted to be an author. That identity was important to me. The easiest path? Writing about something I’d already been talking about for years: workshop design. That’s how The 2-Hour Workshop Bl...

What this one’s about: I riff on a killer Diary of a CEO roundtable (Codie Sanchez, Alex Hormozi, Daniel Priestley) and share a study on grooming, attractiveness and pay—plus my $150 Mecca “makeup school” hack I used before a 350-person talk. My big takeaways: You don’t need capital to start — pre-sell, validate fast, borrow audiences, and use relationships as leverage. That was the common thread...

We’re all doing great work… but is it working? Today I chat with Kevin M. Yates, the global L&D detective who measures whether learning fulfills its purpose. He shows us how to move beyond smile sheets and activity metrics to evidence that behaviour changed and business goals budged. What you’ll learn North Star clarity: Define results up-front as “measurable activation of behaviour/performanc...

Guest: Nikki Bush — human potential & parenting expert, bestselling author of Future-Proof Yourself , Certified Speaking Professional, and the first woman inducted into the Professional Speakers Association of South Africa Hall of Fame. Why this episode? If you run virtual workshops and want fast, practical ways to read the room, dial up energy, and keep people with you (without circus tricks)...

I shared fresh stories from last night’s IABC Queensland event where I road-tested my Work Fame concept—no slides, just prompts, energy, and a few spicy truths about standing out. In this episode The serendipity start: rocking up to u&u Recruitment on Queen Street and reuniting with Erica Brush —we played state school netball together at 15 (Met West, Roma!). The recruiter reality check: 9 out...

I’ve just left Day 1 of the Queensland Association of Special Education Leaders conference (QASEL) at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. I’m speaking on Day 3 (“The Dark Arts of Engagement”), so I snuck in early to get a feel for the room—and wow, the energy is brilliant. My big takeaways Housekeeping ≠ snoozefest. Use memes/pop-culture to make admin memorable. Simone modelled this p...

I recorded this one from the couch—with the heater blasting and my iPad out—while rejigging workshop sequences. Today I confess something small-but-useful I was wrong about: Strava . For years I resisted it (I thought you needed special gear), then a hike with Kirsty flipped the switch. Now I’m loving the seamless Apple Watch sync, the community vibe, route ideas when I travel, and the cheeky stat...

Today I broke my own rules from The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint … then remembered why they exist. I tried to type a workshop outline straight into a doc at the café (hello, friction and tab-opening). So I shut the laptop, ordered a long black, and went old-school: one idea per index card. Suddenly the ideas poured out, the structure revealed itself, and now the only problem is what to cut. What I co...

Today I’m handing the mic to my friend (and brand wizard) Jason Knight . If you’ve ever looked at my site and thought, “Whoa—this is… different,” you’ll love this one. Jason and I share a long backstory—from L&D days to Red Carpet Campout—and in this episode he unpacks a super simple, ridiculously useful framework for becoming dangerously distinctive in how you show up. What this episode is ab...

Today, I’m chatting to someone who also shares my love for the Clifton Strengths tool. It’s all well and good to find a tool you love, that echoes back what you think + feel about yourself but more importantly? It’s what you do with it that matters! Today’s guest, Charlotte Blair shares how we can apply and activate our strengths across various contexts: In the way we facilitate, the way we show u...

Today I poured a long black (Alan poured a martini) and we got spicy about feedback: smile sheets, unsolicited opinions, and why being liked is overrated compared to being respected . Alan shares why he was often hired to discomfort audiences, how to stay buyer-centred (not audience-centred), and when to refund, repeat, or remix. We also riff on The Mom Test, critical mass marketing, and the diffe...

This week my book The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint has been popping like Jenny Blake’s “serendipity popcorn” — in places and moments I didn’t plan In this episode The word that flattens a room (and what to do instead) Why assets beat hustle: books, podcasts, recorded talks = omnipresence without burnout My live 45-minute design sprint with PMI QLD Five fast ways to regather a buzzing group without ki...

As many of you know, Bangkok is my favourite city in the world. I love it so much my car number plate even says Bangkok . So when I saw Bangkok Airways—Thailand’s boutique airline—making headlines this week, I knew I had to share it. This is the kind of small-but-mighty change that makes me want to high-five an entire organisation: Bangkok Airways is swapping out cabin crew’s traditional footwear...

In 2025, can simply delivering on what you promised make you exceptional? Today’s episode is part rant, part reminder. I share the saga of Chris’s 1979 Pontiac Trans Am restoration — from the iconic “screaming chicken” sticker disaster to the stereo shop that ghosted us — plus a Mount Coot-tha coffee queue that had me questioning how businesses set (or don’t set) expectations. Here’s what we cover...

Today I’m handing the mic to my friend John Anthony from Transcend — or as I call him, JA . We met at the MBS Rooftop event last year and I’ve been a fan of his perspective (and his knack for weaving music into his message) ever since. In this episode, JA breaks down a concept we all experience but rarely stop to name: cognitive dissonance — that out-of-tune feeling when our thoughts, values, and...