On this week’s episode, I’m joined by Leah Selfe, who you may know as the Productivity Queen. Leah works with women who are passionate about impacting others through their teachings and knowledge.

She’s the go to Automation Strategist for fine tuning processes, creating business systems that work and automating workflows for easier business operations. Or, in short, she’s the woman who helps others to be more productive in their business, kick goals and get the work done.

After 15 years in the corporate world Leah was made redundant like many others due to Covid-19. Leah knew that this was her chance to take matters into her own hands and decided to start her own business.

In this episode, Leah shares what productivity is – and isn’t; the traps so many of us can fall into in the quest to get more done in less time; and her personal productivity go-to’s.

You’ll find Leah online at theproductivityqueen.com.au

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Emily Osmond (00:00.862)
Well, Leah, thank you so much for joining me today.

Leah (00:04.434)
It’s lovely to be here, finally. I’m so excited to be on the podcast.

Emily Osmond (00:09.635)
And excited to chat about all things productivity, but I thought we better start off with you introducing yourself. Who are you? Do you remember today? And after a big week we were chatting about, and what is it that you do?

Leah (00:23.578)
Um, what it is that I do. Oh, fabulous. Um, sorry, it cut out a little bit there. So I’m, Oh, I love that. I love that. So who am I now? This is something that I actually, I love asking this question on my podcast as well. And I love being able to answer this question myself. I am a lover of all things dash ounce.

Emily Osmond (00:28.927)
Oh yeah, no worries, I said who are you and what do you do?

Emily Osmond (00:37.586)
Mm-hmm.

Emily Osmond (00:46.497)
Oh yeah.

Leah (00:48.542)
I love to read, to escape. I love a good red wine. I love a good gin. I consider myself to be a very upfront, honest person. I’m very caring. I’m very giving. And then amongst all of that, I’m also a mum and I’m also a business owner. But I love to be able to kind of give people a bit of an idea of who I am before I kind of touch those labels to it.

Emily Osmond (01:08.251)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (01:12.002)
Yeah, absolutely.

Leah (01:15.414)
that question and what it is that I do. So I run the productivity queen. It is my business that I’ve had for three years now which is amazing. To put it pretty short I basically get paid to yell at women to get shit done. To expand on that a little bit further I work with women in service-based industries who are looking to redefine what that

Emily Osmond (01:31.983)
Everyone needs someone like that.

Leah (01:45.07)
kind of business lifestyles that they want and how they can utilize systems and automation and the own power of their productivity to make that happen. So it’s really looking at what is it that they want and then building a business to help them do that, but doing it in a way that’s benefiting them and their customer journey rather than almost like a cookie cutter approach. It’s like, how can we redefine what it looks like for you based on what your needs are?

Emily Osmond (02:17.754)
So good, and sorry, cut out my end. Ugh, how annoying. Anyway. Yeah, isn’t it? Ugh.

Leah (02:21.964)
I hate about the internet these days. When you’re like three, how do we still have information? It is. It is.

Emily Osmond (02:27.306)
I know, is it Australia? I think it’s Australia. I don’t know. Leah, what were you doing before your business? You’ve had it three years, which to me is like not actually that long. I don’t know if it feels like ages for you, but that’s not a long time in business.

Leah (02:40.382)
It’s definitely not a long time. So this is definitely a COVID business baby. Prior to starting my business, I was in the events and travel industry for nearly 10 years. So I had actually been made redundant 12 months prior to COVID. I had been working for a company for just over eight years. I saw my career there. I was like, this is what I’m gonna do for the rest of my life. This is gonna be the business I’m gonna work in.

Shit happens, things change. I was made redundant and then was unemployed for about five days and I’m pretty sure I had a mental breakdown because I don’t think I’d ever been unemployed in my entire working life. Got another job within a similar industry, not something that I loved, but I was like, I just need to start again somewhere. And then unfortunately, I think it was like a year and five days to the date, COVID happened and…

It was at that point where I was like, okay, this is two years in a row that I’m gonna like, I was quite realistic. I’m probably going to be never done it again. And I was like, I like twice as enough. Like that’s, that’s not the universe telling me to pull my finger out and do something else. I don’t really know how much more I need to kind of listen. Um, so I did, I decided that while I was stood down, I would try to make the most of it. I

Emily Osmond (03:47.797)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (03:52.047)
Mm.

Leah (04:06.27)
studied, I really kind of nutted out what it is that I loved, what I didn’t love, what I wanted to do, and then I just took the leap and I went fuck it, if it works it works, if it doesn’t, well mum clear out that second room, I’m moving back in so…

Emily Osmond (04:23.906)
Oh my God, that was so similar to me too, Leah. And I’m like, oh my God, so lucky to have mom. Cause that was my backup plan. I’m like, well, can I move in with you if this doesn’t work? And did you start off, Leah, with your business niched into productivity or was that a, did that evolve over time?

Leah (04:27.822)
Yeah.

Leah (04:33.207)
Yeah, pretty much.

Leah (04:42.762)
Yeah, I was a pretty much just a generalised VA. So I started out in the virtual assistant world. I was still trying to, I knew roughly who I would like to work with, but I still wasn’t sure I’m a hundred percent of what I wanted to do. So I really worked with a lot of different industries. I did a lot of different tasks. I did a lot of different kind of projects and it’s probably only been in the last, I would say 18 months. So halfway through my business journey so far, then I realised that I…

Emily Osmond (04:45.709)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (05:06.459)
Mm.

Leah (05:10.902)
I’m quite process driven. I come from an industry that thrives on processes and thrives on, you know, let’s do the same thing over and over again and just continuously make it better and better. And I was like, I feel like there’s some business owners out there that potentially may not have come from a world like that. So they’re probably still floundering around and just trying to get through the shit show from one day to the next, hoping that they can wake up.

Emily Osmond (05:36.082)
Can anyone relate? Can anyone relate?

Leah (05:39.086)
I’m gonna wake up the next day and it’s not as bad as it was the day before. But I also have a, like, I love problem solving. I love being able to look at things differently and figure out how we can come up with different ways and so it was kind of in that moment where I was like, I feel like I need to help women make sense of what productivity is to them. I mean, let’s be honest, the word productivity and productivity in general is not sexy. I’m not selling.

Emily Osmond (05:41.81)
I’m gonna go get some water.

Emily Osmond (06:01.901)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (06:06.834)
Let’s go there Leah, because I actually wanted you to define what it means to you and to your clients that you work with. When you say productivity, what does that mean or look like to you?

Leah (06:13.313)
Yeah.

Leah (06:16.802)
So for me, productivity is being able to work between the hours of nine and 3.30, four days a week. Wednesdays are my CEO day, so that is a me day. I get to do whatever the hell I want. If I wanna do business, I can. If I don’t and I just wanna veg, I can also do that too. But it also means to me that I have really good boundaries around what I’m willing to not do and do based on the fact that I know how I work best.

Emily Osmond (06:24.132)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (06:45.33)
Hmm.

Leah (06:46.23)
And I wanna make it really clear that is my version of productivity. And this is something that I have a conversation about with all of the ladies that I work with. It’s like, what does productivity mean to you? If you were your most productive self, what would a day look like? How would you structure your week? What’s gonna be the most important thing for you? If working during school hours is not your thing because you don’t, like you’ve got a partner to help you out with that, or you live close by and the kids can walk to and from school, so school hours aren’t an issue, then let’s not focus on that.

You know, if being able to have every second weekend off so you can go away camping and spend more time with your family, then let’s focus on that. But what does it mean to you to be your most productive self? And how can we make that more of a possibility for you?

Emily Osmond (07:14.505)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (07:21.349)
Hmm… Oh, yes.

Emily Osmond (07:27.686)
Do you find the clients you work with sometimes are really hard on themselves? Cause they think that being productive means that they should be getting up at 5 a.m. or they should be getting, I don’t know, some ridiculous amount of work done. Are people very hard on themselves, do you think?

Leah (07:43.846)
Yeah, and look, to be honest, I used to be part of like the 5am club and get up and do all the things. But that’s not a part of where my life is right now. So in the journey that I’m in right now with a nearly 14 year old, Lord give me strength.

Emily Osmond (07:48.729)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (07:54.95)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (08:02.319)
That is why the bottle of gin is behind you, I think, just so it’s easy access anytime.

Leah (08:08.905)
I’ve got four years to go, Emily, four years to go and then surely I can get a break. But like where I’m at in my journey now, I don’t need to be getting up at 4.30 or 5 o’clock in the morning because my son doesn’t get up at that time. So I don’t need to be focusing on being up so early. And I say the same things to my clients. Like if getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning is your idea of a nightmare, then don’t do it.

Emily Osmond (08:18.965)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (08:28.644)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (08:33.892)
Mm.

Leah (08:34.134)
Like you don’t have to structure your day based on somebody else’s optimized morning routine. Like I find my best morning routine is when my son walks out the door to go to school at like 10 quarter to 10 to eight, I get the dog, we go for a walk. I come back, I have a shower, I get myself ready and I’m sitting at my desk generally at about nine quarter past nine. That is an optimal morning routine for me. If I had to do that at five o’clock in the morning, I would be the

Emily Osmond (08:40.05)
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Emily Osmond (08:53.423)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (08:59.844)
Mm.

Leah (09:02.758)
crankiest person in the world. Like, it’s just not happening. It’s just not happening. Yes!

Emily Osmond (09:03.814)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (09:08.21)
and then I need an afternoon nap if I do that, I’m like, whoa. But it’s right, it’s whatever’s gonna work with your life. Yeah.

Leah (09:14.018)
So yeah, it really just comes down to finding out what works for you. And then they come another time where, you know, my son decides to do some drastic morning sports activity and I need to be up at five o’clock in the morning so then I can figure out what that looks like. But it’s like, I never push that if it works for somebody else, it has to work because that’s not how productivity works. But it also means that you don’t have to do everything.

Emily Osmond (09:19.132)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (09:28.327)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (09:34.566)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (09:42.651)
Hmm.

Leah (09:43.606)
You know, we have that mom guilt and I know a lot of the women that I work with and myself, and I’m assuming you, you work from home, right? So you see the laundry that hasn’t been folded. You see the dishes that haven’t been done. You see the toys that haven’t been packed away. And there’s that overwhelming feeling of guilt and just straight up fatigue of what it’s like to be a mom and try to figure out how to do all those things. So it’s like,

Emily Osmond (09:49.21)
Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.

Emily Osmond (10:05.176)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Leah (10:09.694)
how can you recreate those boundaries and have conversations with your partner, with your kids, and being like, this is how things have to work now. Because let’s be honest, if we were working Monday to Friday, nine to five in an office, the laundry would still be sitting there, the dishes would still be sitting there, and the toys would still be out. So it’s like, why is it now different and a responsibility for us to be able to make sure the ship is running and try to run a business at the same time? So you don’t have to.

Emily Osmond (10:15.351)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (10:23.535)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Emily Osmond (10:30.155)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (10:36.092)
Mmm.

Leah (10:37.198)
You don’t have to get up at five o’clock in the morning. You don’t need to be working till 11 o’clock at night. You just need to find out what’s gonna work best for you.

Emily Osmond (10:43.41)
Hmm. So what are the, what are some of the processes or the systems or the, whatever it is that as some of your go-tos, if you have them for your clients, what are some things that you tend to put in place or eliminate or switch up to help your clients? Once you’ve worked out what’s going to work for them to then get the stuff that they want to get stuff done.

Leah (11:05.962)
Yeah, definitely. So if anybody was to look at my calendar, it is a time blocking machine. And I love it. I love my colors. I love to organize things, but again, that could be somebody else’s idea of a worst nightmare. But once I find out what is going to work for them and how they would like to structure their business, we then start looking at what does their business actually need to run? What are the services that they’re offering? What

the things that we need to tick and flick in order for those services to run. And then how can we make sure that we can streamline and tighten those processes so that you’re not losing that personal touch, you’re still giving the customer journey that is required, but you’re not allowing yourself to focus too much on the how and allowing you to actually be able to focus more on the doing. Because a lot of us, and especially women in

We love what we do, but sometimes it sucks that we have to figure out the how before we can get to what we do. So how can we make that how? How can I onboard the client? How can I get the client’s information? How can I make sure that they’re updated along the way? How can I make sure that this project is gonna run smoothly? So let’s try to figure out how we can streamline that how to make it easier for you to focus on the doing. And I do that with a couple of different systems. So I’m obsessed with DubSado. It is my favorite.

Emily Osmond (12:22.81)
Hmm.

Leah (12:32.722)
and pretty much an all-around customer relationship management tool. So I use that for my onboarding, my offboarding, sending out updates, questionnaires, all that kind of stuff to my client. And then I love Asana. Asana is my favorite project management tool. So sometimes I like to get stuck in the how, how we’re going to make it happen. But a lot of them that I work with, because they are creative, they don’t want to get stuck in the how. So just tell me what you want to do. I’ll figure out the how, and then we can work together and making sure that actually.

Emily Osmond (12:41.266)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (12:55.114)
Mm.

Leah (13:02.154)
is an actionable plan and you don’t feel overwhelmed by it. So I would probably say those are my true favorite go-to systems. And that’s probably generally how I work with a lot of my clients at the moment, yeah.

Emily Osmond (13:03.949)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (13:08.68)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (13:13.542)
Hmm. What do you suggest for people that have a huge amount of things on their to-do list? They’re like, Leah, but there’s just, oh my gosh, I just can’t get to anything. There’s so many things I want to do. They’re feeling so overwhelmed. Where do you start?

Leah (13:27.774)
It really comes down to three different things. What do you need to plan? What do you need to do? And what do you need to delegate? So it comes back to the fact of you don’t have to do it all. Nobody has to do it all. Nobody’s telling you, you have to do it all. And anybody, if you listen to a podcast and you read a book that’s like, you can do it all, they’re full of shit. Like it doesn’t have to be that way. You get to decide at what point is that threshold. So plan out what your day is going to look like. Put in all of those non-negotiables. You’ll walk.

Emily Osmond (13:34.885)
Mm-hmm.

Emily Osmond (13:38.222)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (13:46.403)
I’m sorry.

Leah (13:57.014)
your lunch, your meeting with your girlfriends, play date with your kids, plan out your day, then figure out what it is that you need to do and pop that into your calendar. And then basically what should be left is all the stuff that, you know, because there’s all things as business owners we don’t like to do. So like, let’s try and delegate some of that crap, right? Then you can figure out what it is that you wanna delegate. If you’re not in a position to have someone to delegate to, how can you put yourself in a position?

to find someone you can delegate to. There are so many different amazing resources when it comes to delegating work, whether it’s Australian or offshore virtual assistants, whether it’s gig work, like whatever that looks like, but there is always an opportunity for you to find that. But it really does come down to planning out your week. What are your non-negotiables? Plan for yourself. So,

Emily Osmond (14:34.31)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (14:44.142)
Mm. Yeah, so powerful to be like, what are the actual things that you need to get done each week and get them in the diary?

Leah (14:51.346)
Exactly. Like I know that I have my son does karate twice a week. I like to go for my morning walks every day. On a Thursday night, I do my sexy little dance class that’s just and those are my non-negotiable. So before I organize anything else in my day, what is it that I need to make sure is in there for the week so that I can really plan out? Once you’re planning and you’ve put in everything that you need to do, it’s actually a good opportunity for you to stop and just reflect on that as well. Like just look at it.

Emily Osmond (15:01.946)
Wee!

Emily Osmond (15:05.347)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (15:11.088)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (15:18.647)
Mmm.

Leah (15:19.762)
Does it make you feel overwhelmed? And if the answer is yes, this is where women have to learn to say no a little bit more. What would I say no to this week that I potentially could do next week? Because we’re not heart surgeons, we’re not brain surgeons, no one’s gonna die, right? So what could you say no to make you feel a little bit more at ease about what’s gonna happen this week and renegotiate maybe a deadline or push back a lunch with a girlfriend and be like, you know what?

Emily Osmond (15:21.819)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (15:27.435)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (15:32.64)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (15:37.563)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (15:44.812)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (15:49.241)
Mmm.

Leah (15:49.614)
It’s like, I really want to focus on getting this project finalized or whatever. But what is it that you need to say no to so that you can feel more comfortable with how you’re with

Emily Osmond (15:58.563)
Something I heard that I really liked was also, if you wouldn’t do it this week, then don’t say yes to it. So it was kind of like, okay, if there’s like an event that’s coming up and if the idea of going to it this week, like getting out of the house, getting there, doesn’t really make you feel excited, but you’re saying yes to going and it’s like, I don’t know, in two months time, just say no.

Leah (16:22.578)
Exactly. And a lot of them in our people pleases is what we do. We take care of our people. We do so many things for other people. So saying yes to things is so easy for us. Yes, I can do that. Yes, I can come here. Yes, I can pick that up. Yes, I can make that. But you’re so right. If it’s not like if you don’t get that invitation or if you don’t get that notification and you’re like, oh my God, that’s so exciting. You don’t have to say yes. Another opportunity is going to come up at a time that’s going to suit you best. So.

Emily Osmond (16:26.027)
Yes, yes.

Emily Osmond (16:31.76)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (16:45.224)
Bye.

Okay, can you help with the no? Can you help with the saying no, Leah?

Leah (16:52.227)
I would like to say that I can.

Emily Osmond (16:54.964)
What do you suggest to people that are like, oh, but I don’t want to let anyone down.

Leah (16:59.138)
Um, I can be a little brutally honest, um, sometimes, um, so a little bit of a, um, swear word warning here, but, um, I’m like, who fucking cares? If you say no, who fucking cares? Like who, who are you going to hurt if you say no? And if you saying no is going to affect another person’s emotions and how they interact with you.

Emily Osmond (17:02.525)
Hehehehe

Emily Osmond (17:11.907)
Mm.

Mm.

Leah (17:28.298)
that is not your fucking problem. Because you’re putting yourself first, you have to understand that you say yes to so many things, at some point, you have to say no. And by saying no to the right things, you’re re-establishing those boundaries for yourself. And then people are gonna start to understand that is a boundary for you, and they’ll stop pushing it. So it can be a little bit uncomfortable.

Emily Osmond (17:41.414)
Love it.

Emily Osmond (17:48.045)
Yeah.

Leah (17:56.066)
But ask yourself, is it because you’re going to make yourself, if it’s making you upset and uncomfortable, maybe have a think about why that is. But if it’s really gonna be a no because, like if you’re afraid to say no because you’re worried about how that other person is gonna feel, then say no. Because that’s not your problem. You don’t have to regulate somebody else’s emotions. You don’t have to people please another person to make them feel good. If it’s not right for you, it’s not right for you.

Emily Osmond (18:00.306)
Mm-hmm.

Emily Osmond (18:04.07)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (18:10.738)
Hmm.

Hmm.

Hmm.

Emily Osmond (18:24.518)
Hmm. And I bet, um, once people can get started with that, the practice of doing that and seeing the lack of fallout on the other side or the fallout that they can actually cope with and manage, it’s going to get easier for them and it’s going to allow their time to be filled with the things that are most important to them versus

Leah (18:42.548)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (18:50.458)
Filling their time with other people’s priorities, which can absolutely happen, yeah.

Leah (18:53.202)
Exactly. And it’s so true. I love a lot of how many times? Oh, a lot of the women that I work with, sometimes confuse somebody else’s values with their values. And this is where I’m like, but what’s important to you? Going to that event to help someone to support someone, which you are a caring person, you love community, if that is part of your values.

Emily Osmond (18:58.33)
A little little. Heheheheheheh.

Emily Osmond (19:08.428)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (19:17.872)
Yeah.

Leah (19:22.21)
then it’s a lot easier to say yes. But if that’s not part of your values, but you’re doing it because it’s what they value, then how are you honoring yourself in regards to making sure that you’re doing what you need to do to make you feel better? So yeah, it can be hard to start with, but eventually you start liking the feeling of what it’s like to be selfish and say no a few times. So, I’m sorry.

Emily Osmond (19:26.461)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (19:35.197)
Mm.

Emily Osmond (19:44.698)
Yeah. And I think as well, the flip side is you’re otherwise can be living with a lot of resentment. And I know that I’ve been in phases where I’m like, just super resentful. And I’m like, I’m the only one that’s put myself in this position. So let’s get my priorities back in check here. And because I can fix this. Yeah.

Leah (20:03.182)
kind of a, yeah. And yeah, it can be a little bit uncomfortable, but sometimes it’s nice to have that bit of a reality check and be like, wait a minute, this is, one, it isn’t serving me, two, it doesn’t light me up, and three, I just can’t be bothered. Like, I don’t wanna go out this week. I wanna stay in my pajamas. I’m gonna get out and watch a movie.

Emily Osmond (20:11.783)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (20:28.086)
Yes. Leah, I’m curious about something that you might be working on yourself because I know that as business owners, there’s always challenges, there’s always things that we’re working to improve. What is something for you that you might be still honing or working with or practices that you need to come back to?

Leah (20:45.694)
I think for me, it definitely comes down to people pleasing. I’ve always been a people pleaser. I definitely do the work that I tell my clients to do as well. It is hard. I definitely don’t think at any point a people pleaser can just flick a switch and all of a sudden it’s done. But I’m always constantly having to check in with myself. Am I doing this to make them happy or am I doing this to make me happy?

Emily Osmond (21:05.385)
Mmm.

Leah (21:15.682)
and if I’m doing it to make them happy then I have to kind of look at what it is I’m actually doing and is there a different way that I can do it.

Emily Osmond (21:27.247)
Mmm.

Okay, switching gears a little bit. I wanna hear what role Instagram plays in your business, Leah, because it’s something that I help a lot of other people with, and I love the stuff that you’re doing on there with your reels and your content. What role, where does it kind of fit into your business?

Leah (21:46.098)
Instagram has been an amazing opportunity for me to really connect with a lot of like-minded women. And I think pretty much since I came to the realization about 18 months ago that I really want to hone in on productivity, and I’m really starting to step in to who I am, I definitely had that corporate mentality for a long time when I first started. Like nice portrait furshers and everything was like polished.

Emily Osmond (21:54.022)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (22:02.168)
Yeah.

Leah (22:16.618)
And after meeting and you know being with people like my people, people that follow me for who I am, for the last you know 18 months I’ve really decided that you know I need to be expressing more of who I am. And I love that by doing that and being open and honest about my journey as a mum and a business owner and not sugarcoating it and not making people think that it’s this fairy tale rainbow journey.

Emily Osmond (22:21.925)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (22:28.39)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (22:33.74)
Yeah.

Mmm.

Emily Osmond (22:43.387)
Hmm.

Leah (22:44.226)
so many women reach out to me and be like just thank you, like thank you for just saying it how it is because sometimes I feel like nobody understands. So for me Instagram, as much as I definitely need to be a little bit more strategic, it really has been a huge opportunity for me to build a community of women that are just like yeah it’s hard and I’m

Emily Osmond (22:47.723)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mmm.

Emily Osmond (23:05.558)
Mmm.

Leah (23:09.214)
I’m not the only one and I’m glad that there’s other women out there that get it. So, yeah, it’s definitely for me, it’s about finding the people that get it and understand. And I’m slowly starting to understand that this is a great platform for me to be able to show only who I am, but what I do and how I can help. So, yeah, it’s definitely a huge pivotal part of my business.

Emily Osmond (23:10.588)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (23:18.055)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (23:23.855)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (23:27.494)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (23:32.208)
Speaking of that, Leah, what are, as we worked for her, what are different ways that you help people? How can people work with you? What do you offer in your business?

Leah (23:39.07)
Yeah, definitely. So there’s a couple of different ways. I do offer a in a queen mentoring program so you can work with me in a full month container. Where don’t worry, I don’t yell at you all the time. Sometimes I will, if you don’t do the shit. But it’s good if you haven’t been warned. I normally there’s like a three strike process. Mum Leah comes out.

Emily Osmond (23:56.334)
You’ve been warned.

Leah (24:05.098)
It’s basically a four month container where women can come in and we dive into the things that we’ve spoken about in this program. What are your values? What is it that you want your life to look like? How can we build your business to help you facilitate that? What are the services and the offerings that you have in your product suite? How can we tighten what your business looks like? So you lose some of that overwhelm, get some of that stress out of your life and be able to focus on the shit that actually lights you up. But also giving you an opportunity to realize that you can

Emily Osmond (24:23.079)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (24:30.471)
Mmm.

Leah (24:35.01)
talk to someone who gets it. Get it? Sometimes it’s not a fun time, sometimes it’s amazing. But throughout that entire process, I am that person that is in your back pocket to be like, we got this. Some days are gonna be great and you’re gonna wake up in the morning and everything’s gonna be perfect. And other days they’re not. But when they’re not, we can come up with a plan. You don’t have to do this by yourself. I’m gonna give you the tools and the strategies to make it easier for you to make decisions.

Emily Osmond (24:36.562)
Hmm… yeah.

Emily Osmond (24:42.663)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (24:53.094)
Hmm.

Emily Osmond (24:58.086)
Hmm.

Leah (25:04.774)
and restructure your day when shit hits the fan at seven o’clock in the morning, the moment you wake up. So it’s like being with someone who can step you through that and allow you to be open to the fact that it can be okay. And one day from one day to the next, it can be a complete different challenge. So that is something that I help women with currently. And then I also have the ability for women to just do some one-off strategy sessions. If you’re like, just really fucking hardcore struggling.

Emily Osmond (25:09.284)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (25:18.964)
Yeah.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Emily Osmond (25:29.641)
Mmm.

Leah (25:33.418)
on this one thing, well, let’s jump on a call for 60 minutes and nut it out. It’s a lot easier for someone on the outside and I think you would agree with working with women in business, we can see things differently in other people’s businesses. That’s what people pay us for, to have the outside strategy and that high level look to be able to go, you’re not doing it wrong but here’s how we can just make things a little bit better. You know, you’re on the right track.

Emily Osmond (25:34.677)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (25:41.955)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (25:45.902)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (25:50.288)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (25:54.586)
Bye.

Emily Osmond (26:00.6)
Yeah.

Leah (26:03.19)
but let’s just tweak it a little bit. So yeah, so those are probably the two easiest ways for me to work with businesses at the moment. I do offer online business management as well, but you do have to come through one of my mentoring programs so that we can make sure that I’m not coming into the shit show from the very beginning with prep work basically, so. So.

Emily Osmond (26:04.69)
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Emily Osmond (26:17.234)
Mm-hmm.

Emily Osmond (26:25.443)
But yeah, you’re so right. I think that we’re all doing our absolute best, but having a bit of objective, somewhat objective taking a look at what you’re doing is just invaluable because when we’re so close to our own work, it’s hard to see some of those opportunities or those little switches we could be making to really get things moving along. So yeah, super powerful. Leah, is there anything I haven’t asked you that you wanted to share?

Leah (26:38.434)
Mm-hmm.

Leah (26:53.942)
think that’s about it. I’m a pretty open book so if you had any other questions I definitely share them with you. But I just yeah I just want women to know that productivity doesn’t have to be boring, productivity doesn’t need to sound sexy. I mean I’m trying. I’m trying so hard. But it really is just about making sure that women understand that one they don’t have to do it all and we can find a solution that’s tailored for them and

Emily Osmond (27:07.943)
You’re doing your absolute best, I would agree.

Leah (27:19.35)
they can get back that control and lose that overwhelm without feeling like they need to stick to somebody else’s checklist, somebody else’s perfect morning routine. So I’m just glad I’m able to let women know out there, especially moms in business, you’re not alone. How many of you out there that are going through the exact same thing? And it’s women like yourself, Emily and me that are like, we get it, we’re here with you, we’re in the trenches and we understand what you’re going through. Woo.

Emily Osmond (27:25.944)
Mmm.

Emily Osmond (27:33.318)
Yeah.

Emily Osmond (27:39.858)
Hmm. Yep. I just got up from a little nap to get on this podcast because we had our birthday, mine and my son’s birthday yesterday. And he was, he was so tired today. And then he went to daycare. And then I’m like, I think I’m just going to have a quick little lie down because I am so tired too.

Leah (27:51.513)
Ah, what is this?

Leah (27:58.21)
Hmm. Yep, no, there’s nothing wrong with that. I think you definitely go through a phase where I’m now reaching that point in my life where day naps have come back into my life and I don’t have to worry about my son being asleep. I can have a quick day nap and get up and go again. Oh!

Emily Osmond (28:16.226)
So good. Oh, well Leah, thanks so much for joining me today and sharing some of your tips and your insights. And it’s just really helpful to know that we’re all figuring this out. I think not every day is gonna be perfect. There’s gonna be good days. There’s gonna be more challenging days, but step by step we can make it and we can work through it. So thank you so much for joining.

Leah (28:33.506)
Yep.

Emily Osmond (28:40.066)
me Leah and where can everyone go to find you connect with you reach out to you? What’s the best place?

Leah (28:44.766)
Yeah, definitely. And thank you so much, Emily, for having me on the podcast. It’s been amazing to have a chat with you. Um, you can all find me on Instagram at the dot productivity queen. Um, I try to be as open and honest there as I can. Um, I’m redoing my website as well. So you can go to your productivity queen.com.au, but feel free to follow along with all the shenanigans on Instagram. Um, and yeah, if you’ve got any questions on whether it’s being productive, whether it’s just, you know what, sometimes you just need a vent because

Emily Osmond (29:05.83)
Hehehehe

Emily Osmond (29:14.002)
Hmm.

Leah (29:14.446)
You’re not sleeping, you still need to figure out how to get through the day. Slide on into my DMs and just voice note the hell out of me because I will be there and I get it. Come on down.

Emily Osmond (29:24.083)
I love it. I might see you there later than Lea. Thanks so much for being here. Chat soon.

Leah (29:29.322)
Yes, yes, exactly.

Leah (29:34.154)
Bye, thanks Emily so much.