Leonie Dawson's Blog, page 19

Mindfulness Video: Take a moment with me to forest bathe in the wetlands



FREE GOODIES:

Weekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post Mindfulness Video: Take a moment with me to forest bathe in the wetlands appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

The Life Not Likes Podcast

Treasures,

Absolutely THRILLED to share another yummy interview with you all today!

I had the best chat with Gayle, the creator of the website and podcast “Life Not Likes” about living life & doing biz all without social media. And! Gayle planted a tree for me, which is one the sweetest gifts of appreciation I’ve ever received!

The gorgeous Gayle describes this ep best:

Discover the impact that quitting social media has had on Leonie’s business, personal life and wellbeing.We chat about why having regular breaks form social media is beneficial to our emotional wellbeing and businessGet the lowdown on the super powerful two page marketing planFind out the most important marketing activity you need to be doing if you want to 40x your incomeLeonie shared how she is marketing her own business with huge successAnd, how to create better boundaries for yourself if you don’t want to quit social media cold turkey Discover what is actually more important than any marketing strategy

Click HERE to listen, or you can find the episode anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Love always,

FREE GOODIES:

Newsletter with absoloodely everything I createWeekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post The Life Not Likes Podcast appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

July 2022: Biz & Life Review

Possums!

Yay! Welcome back to my monthly tradition where I review my life & business & share behind-the-scenes numbers as well.

I’ll cover:

life blessings & challengeswhat I’ve created in my businesshow much revenue generatedmy goals for next month.

You can read previous monthly reviews here:

2021

April & MayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovember

2022

Dec 21 & Jan 22February MarchApril MayJuneA quick recap

I didn’t do goals in July, and I’m not doing them in August either… I need a break from that part of my brain.

I’m also starting to feel a bit unmotivated and uninspired about doing these monthly reviews. I know loads of peeps find them useful, but I’ve been doing them for almost 18 months and consistency can kill my groove sometimes. I might start doing them every 2 months instead and see if that reinvigorates my juice!

What I got up to in life!I got some personal news in July that I’m still sitting with. I’ll share more deeply about it once I’ve healed a bit more from the shock of it all. (Just to reassure you: I’m ok, my love is ok, my kidliwinks are ok.)We started July with 2 weeks of school holidays. Holy smokes, I love school holidays. Hanging out at home together, having quiet and gentle days is my jam. Also playing increasingly feisty rounds of Catan with my kids.Obviously, we also did a lot of craft projects together too.Chris’ aunt and uncle came for a visit HOORAY. They are always a joy to see.Our old acreage home went under contract (again) to sell after the last contract fell over. So looking forward to having it officially sold and no longer ours to manage.We’ve been a revolving roundabout of sickness – my husband caught Covid for the first time and was pretty knocked out with it. And we’ve all had colds/seasonal sniffles as well.We got new pendant lights installed over our kitchen counter. IN LURVE.My kids’ school closed down their high school program unexpectedly, so we’ve been on the chase to find a replacement high school for next year for my biggest kid.Took my littlest kid to an adventure playground with her friends and nearly died laughing at the spectacle of her and her mates on the bouncy dodgem cars. Meanwhile, my big kid was being a mall rat with her friends. They are 10/10 cute.We bought Cards Against Humanity (Family edition) and played with the kids. My love was crying with laughter. Gosh it was so bloody fun!I got psychiatrically diagnosed with ADHD.I also discovered that my style statement is ALL THE RAINBOW. This jumper and these leggings are now my wardrobe staples.Best Books

I went hammer and tong on the books this month… it was a STELLAR reading month. Here are my 5 star favourites.

Below Zero (The STEMinist Novellas, #3) by Ali HazelwoodThe Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor CrewesGo to Sleep (I Miss You): Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood by Lucy KnisleyDear Sophie, Love Sophie: A Graphic Memoir in Diaries, Letters, & Lists by Sophie Lucido JohnsonThriving with ADHD Workbook for Kids by Kelli Miller (I actually used it for myself and found it quite helpful!)The New Queer Conscience by Adam Eli & Ashley LukashevskyHow to Do Hard Things: Actual Real Life Advice, on Friends, Love, Career, Wellbeing, Mindset, and More by Veronica DearlyBreak the Internet: In Pursuit of Influence by Olivia Yallop (one of my favourite books of the YEAR. If you’re in online business it’s a fascinating read!)A Quick & Easy Guide to Asexuality by Molly Muldoon & Will HernandezUnvaxxed: Trust, Truth and the Rise of Vaccine Outrage by Dyani Lewis (a great Aussie journalistic read – I personally am a big fucking fan of vaccinations. This book helped me understand the history of anti-vaccination rhetoric better.)Succulent Wild Woman (25th Anniversary Edition): Dancing with Your Wonder-full Self by SARK (I first read this book 20 years ago and it was one of the most life-changing turning points of my life. I still adore SARK’s work, she has been an enormous inspiration to me. HIGHLY RECOMMEND)Billy and the Minpins by Roald Dahl & Quentin Blake (re-read it to the kids, still adore it wildly)

 

What I did on the biz front!

Had more of a chill business month after back-to-back launches every month of 2022 so far.

Instead I:

Didn’t work while kids were on school holidays. They are just a joy to be around and my family are my favourite priority. They are one of the biggest reasons I built my business… so I can soak up as much time with them as possible. They are rad and I like them loads.Ran a scholarship round for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and people with disabilities… gave hundreds of gorgeous humans free access to my courses.Met up with Viv Guy for tea and cake!Made a few cute things (see below blog posts).Clearly read a shit tonne of books. Ha!Blog posts I publishedWhat You Can Do In Times Like This (a free poster)On Being Psychiatrically Diagnosed with ADHDJune 22: Biz & Life ReviewInspiration is Perishable (a free poster)Week NotesInterviewsA Creative Life PodcastCurrent list of software I use to run my business:Kajabi for most things in my business:selling through their shopping cartteaching my courses through their learning management systemrunning my affiliate programActiveCampaign to send all our marketing emails.OptinMonster to create all the pop-ups, reminder windows & lead magnet forms on my website.Calendly to screen interviewers and book in interviews.Xero is my accounting & financial management system.I host my WordPress websites on WPEngine.

More tools of the trade here if you find that kind of thing useful!

How much money I made

Total income: $33,101

Where that income came from:E-courses: $24,340Goal Getter planners: $550Passive income business: $7,627
I set up this business 6 years ago, worked on it actively for a couple of years, and now it’s income that is 100% passive.Shares & Ethical Managed Funds: No increase.Investment property: Now converted to a family property for in-laws.Affiliate for Kajabi: $575Calm Christmas Planner on Etsy: $8.95

Here’s how the e-course sales were split:

Expenses

Due to popular request, I’m going to include expenses for the business as well to give you an even more transparent look at profitability.

Contractors: $5,480
This is for 1 part time Customer Service Virtual Assistant and 1 part time Online Business Manager. This is probably on the higher side for pricing, but I don’t mind paying more for people who I trust and have a long term working relationship with. I want them to feel appreciated, and I want them to be able to live good lives.Affiliates: $7,200 (these are paid out a month later – so it will be higher after a high sale month)Paypal & account fees: $448Accounting: $240Software subscriptions for everything we use to run our business online (see full list further below): $2551Website hosting: $98Courses & books (for me & my staff to learn from, we are continuously learning): $3,000Minimum purchase order to qualify for my passive income business income: $150

Total expenses this month: $19,167

Profit levels!

Total profit: $13,934 (before tax)

A super quiet month for me, but totally worth it. I didn’t work for most of it, I gave my courses away to hundreds of rad peeps and I made shit tonnes of craft projects with my kidliwinks. I’ve already made enough money for right now – I don’t need every month to be a push to soar to new profit levels. This is more than enough for me.

Goals for next month

I’m also not going to set goals for August. I’m just going to trust myself and follow my flow! HOORAY!

It’s a joy to be here!

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Love,

FREE GOODIES:

Weekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post July 2022: Biz & Life Review appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

Ask Leonie Anything: All the Tech Questions!

Darling hearts!

Welcome to the third Q&A episode of Leonie Dawson Refuses to be Categorised! We’re on a roll now!

This episode is brought to you by my delightful assistant: Zita Norton! We’re covering all the tech & software Qs today, so buckle in because it’s a sexy one!

How To Listen:

Listen above, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

Prefer to feast your eyes instead of your ears?

I’ve gotchu! You can watch over on my YouTube channel!

Here are the questions I answered:

Deborah: What tech are you using? I know you left ConfusionSoft… what’s your email client now? What is connecting to what? Is it Active Campaign/PayPal/Stripe/Kajabi? Tech is the bane of my existence and I’d love to SIMPLIFY. 

Suzanne: I would enjoy hearing about how you decided on Kajabi and how it’s worked for you.  What your skill set is, and what skill sets you’ve hired to help you get online.

Nancy: What is a good way to sell digital products? I don’t have a website and was wondering if I should create a sales page and list my digital goods. For example, a product like: What to feed your senior dog? How to navigate epilepsy? How to apply for Social Security?

Malaika: What system do you use to handle customer service inquiries? What system do you use to share sales orders with your manufacturers?

Laura: I’d like your opinion on affiliate payments when the customer chooses a payment plan. If customers have payments spread out over three or even more payments, then when do affiliates get paid and how do you keep track of that? 

Roza: Hi Leonie, I would love to learn from you how to create your style digital or hand made art work, illustrations you include in your emails, blog, website. Thank you.

Jenny: Do you have a content producing and marketing system? It’s hard to stay consistent & focused while looking after students and creating new courses

Dora: I’m totally new to the world of blog posts. if you could please help me with: 

What programs work best for creating artistic content for blog posts. i.e. so I can include images, videos, different colours, etcWhat is the best program for storing email lists?Are there any courses you recommend I do (other than yours of course!) for learning how to create – photoshop? EtcWhat works better for you computer/laptop wise – Microsoft/HP or Apple?

Shez: How do you decide on your pricing?

You can find the transcript of the episode HERE! (COMING SOON!)

Just like last time, there’s still oodles and oodles of Qs we didn’t get to, so if you liked this episode please let me know by emailing support @ leoniedawson . com (without the spaces, which we only do here to avoid spam bots. FUCK YOUUUU SPAM BOTS).

And! And and and. If you have a Q that wasn’t answered, you can totes magotes send one in! Just fill out the brilliant little form my assistant Zeets created here.

Right! That’s everything!

With showers of glitter, love & light,

Time left before we begin Get Organised:

The post Ask Leonie Anything: All the Tech Questions! appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

Week Notes

As inspired by Alice Bartlett. A wee collection of dot points to round up my week.

I got new glasses today. A chunky pair of blue frames that make me look like an art professor. And a pair of slightly more sedate Coco Song glasses in pink, purple, glitter & blue. HAWT.On Monday I was a productive motherfucker. I’ve barely managed to do shit since then, and have been completely beholden to tiredness, a headache, moodiness & zero motivation.I don’t know if I’m perimenopausal or if it’s a combination of *waves hands vaguely* all of this life and pandemic stuff.I also paused my testing of ADHD medication this week because I was overanalysing its effectiveness. I’ll go back to testing again once I’ve calmed my farm.Chris is still recovering post-Covid. He’s still nowhere near 100% yet.I finished 8 books on the weekend and gave myself eye strain. Because of course I did. Still, I read some absolutely ripper books – Break the Internet about the rise of influencers was exceptional and absolutely enthralled me as someone who has been around that industry for nearly 20 years. Unvaxxed was also a fascinating little tome on the history of the anti-vaccination movement from an Australian perspective.My biggest kid shocked us this week by informing us she’s decided to change high schools near year to a small independent school close by. We’re so proud of her for knowing herself well enough to decide, and for knowing we’d support her. We’re also SO relieved we moved this year – we did it to be closer to other school options if we needed them, and it turns out we very much do.Big kid also tried out a dance class this week which she ended up loving. I’m so happy for her, it’s a joy to watch her bloom.I bought an Astroboy jumper but Big Kid has already stolen it. She’s 12, and most of my jumpers end up in her cupboard. I vacillate being completely charmed by it, and then being slightly annoyed that I have so few jumpers left. Luckily, I still have a rainbow Dangerfield cardigan that I’ve been wearing non stop.Big Kid has day off school today, so we played Catan together. When she won, I got her to behave like I do when I win board games: by pointing at the loser and yelling “IN YOUR FACE.” I’m so proud of her.It’s been a Big Kid-focussed week, clearly.I wrapped up my 3 month coaching program “The Uplevel Incubator.” It was so rad to get to know some good quality humans more. Last time I did small group coaching before this round was in 2012. Maybe in another decade again, I’ll do it. For now, I want to make some more stuff.Had a call with my accountant and told him I want to pay off our new house ASAP because I don’t like having a mortgage.
Him: “Sure, we have some clients who want to do that. We can look at paying it off in 4-5 years.”
Me, aghast: “4 – 5 YEARS ROB? I SAID ASAP, NOT A LIFETIME. I AM TALKING 1-2 YEARS MAX. I AM NOT A BASIC BITCH. SHORT DEADLINES MOTIVATE ME, I DON’T WANT TO DIE OF BOREDOM.”
Him: “1-2 years?”
Me: “That’s all it’s taken me to pay off every other mortgage we’ve had!”
Him: “Okly dokly! Let’s do it then!”
Honestly, that poor bugger forgets sometimes that I am NOT a normal hooman. I’m a shoot for the sky motherfucker, not a “let’s set reasonable goals and work steadily towards them” robot.I got to meet Viv Guy in person for cups of tea and lemon cake! And like typical business coaches… we ended up scrapping the chit chat and writing up business strategy plans instead and brainstorming together. Bahahahahaha!Finally got some new pendant lights installed in our kitchen. I got the same as we installed in our last kitchen because I loved them so much. I still need to get the countertops redone – they are currently jet black and I’m going for more of a Rainbow Vomited On A Hamptons Cottage vibe.Re-read “Billy and The Minpins” to the kids this week. It ends with the most beautiful paragraph ever to finish a book.

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

Righto, onto the weekend. I’ve got big plans of reading, maybe doing some art journaling with my kids, possibly going to the library if I feel really wild, and having our in-laws over for morning tea.

Hooray!

All my love,
Leonie

The post Week Notes appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

Inspiration is Perishable (a free poster)

My darlings!

I fell upon this quote via Sara Soueidan’s desk and it struck me immediately. I knew I needed to make it into a wee poster to put above my desk & use as an iPad screen.

It kind of reminds me of my Wild Donkey theory. The faster you get those donkeys of inspiration ridden, the easier it is. Of course, it’s not always possible to drop everything and create… but wherever possible, do.

Stop, drop and create.

Big Love,

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post Inspiration is Perishable (a free poster) appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

June 2022: Biz & Life Review

Possums!

Yay! Welcome back to my monthly tradition where I review my life & business & share behind-the-scenes numbers as well.

I’ll cover:

life blessings & challengeswhat I’ve created in my businesshow much revenue generatedmy goals for next month.

You can read previous monthly reviews here:

2021

April & MayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovember

2022

Dec 21 & Jan 22February MarchApril MayWant to list to this as a podcast instead?

Easyyyy babes! Just click play above, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

How I went with my goals for the month

Life:

Stay sane hooray! – YAY! WE DID IT!Finish unpacking. – There’s still a few boxes left for Chris’ office, and we’re still not fully organised, but we’re 90% there.Re-install good habits. – On track

Business:

Decide on what to do next! – Decided. Ran a sale.Get back on track with my usual business habits. – Slowly happening… mostly just enjoyed having my kids home for three weeks!Keep encouraging my incubator clients. – YAY! DONE!What I got up to in life!

Well babes, June was a wildly full & social month for me. Hold tight while we go on a wee adventure!

We moved into our new home 3 days before the start of June, so our month was really spent unpacking and getting settled. We are still completely in love with our new house, and SO glad we made the move! It’s a very cosy and comfortable home, and we feel at ease here.My kids finished up their school term. My eldest performed a song at their end of term concert, I was SO HAPPY for her! Sometimes she feels performance anxiety, and she was SO confident and brave!We celebrated the end of school term by descending upon the local crepe store with 12 kids and 6 mums. It was great fun! Then me & other mums traded off kids for the rest of the day so we could attend parent-teacher conferences. Mine went to the river with friends while I talked to their teachers, then I took one of their friends home. Teacher conferences were so awesome and positive which is lovely. I’m so proud of how empathetic and hard working my wee mermaids are.We had three weeks of school holidays. We originally thought we’d be excitable and go on great adventures, then realised that the kids (and us) needed some solid home time to feel grounded in their new space. So that’s what we did, and it was a joy.We planted out a herb patch. My kids spent endless hours out on the street playing with the neighbours. We had lunch at the beach with the kids. We almost died laughing playing “Cards Against Humanity: Family Edition”.I also accidentally ended up at some kind of concert? Dance? World Earth Day? I don’t know, but there was a lot of middle aged hippies dancing barefoot in the park.I got a couple of hour long reflexology sessions to help my feet and body cope with moving aches.We got our old acreage house painted and pressure washed and cleaned and styled, ready to go on the market.I went to a full moon 5Rhythms dance, but had to leave after twenty minutes because it was too much of a sensory overload for my Autistic senses. Instead I got myself a “smoothie” from Macca’s and went to the beach and watched the moon on the waves and it was deadset magical. Also, if you’re wondering what the “smoothie” was – it was an Oreo McFlurry with caramel fudge. It was thick like a smoothie, and it also had chunky bits, and I could have eaten it with a spoon OR a straw. SO… technically, a smoothie, and I cannot be dissuaded otherwise. You’re welcome.Our dear friend Rikki came to visit. We’ve been friends for… 20 years? We met online on SARK’s Marvellous Message Board in the early 2000s, and have been online friends, penpals, real life friends, and almost related in a hilarious and bizarre way. We haven’t been able to see her during the pandemic and it was SO good to see her again.Had therapy. It was most excellent.My 12yo started her own Wreck This Journal, and it thrilled me. I remember doing it when it first came out in 2007… I followed Keri Smith’s blog back in 2004. I’m like a tween trendsetter decades before my time! Hahahah!We had Chris’ parents come over for lunch and morning tea quite a few times, including an enormous Christmas in July BBQ bonanza. It’s bloody lovely having them live just down the road now!I took the kids to the movies with their girlfriends to watch Minions. I fucking hate watching 99% of all movies, so I read most of “Free To Focus” by Michael Hyatt on the Kindle app on my phone during it.

I think that’s about it! Enormously busy, really! And that’s on top of moving!

Best BooksKimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir by Kimiko TobimatsuWe Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel RodgersStuck with You (The STEMinist Novellas, #2) by Ali HazelwoodThe Cheat Sheet by Sarah AdamsWhat I did in my business!

June was filled with:

I got to hang out face-to-face with one of my Incubator coaching clients, the extraordinarily talented Cass Deller. I loves her!I went to dinner with a gaggle of other local business goddesses. We had the BEST TIME… my face hurt from laughing so much! I adored hanging out with Tash Corbin, Amanda Rootsey, Cass Deller, Claire Riley and Brigit Esselmont. Can’t wait for the next one! Look at me NAME DROPPING like a glamorous motherfucker. Am I…. am I posh now?I crashed got invited as a “special guest” to Tash and Claire’s Finish Fest retreat picnic. Luxury picnic? On the river? At sunset? With adorable humans? COUNT ME THE FUCK IN. I’d say it was networking at it’s finest IF I was the kind to use the word networking. But I’m not. So instead I’ll say I gently rubbed my nub upon other nubbly bumbs and it was glorrrrrrrrious.I did weekly Sales Star calls.I did our usual monthly group coaching calls for all e-course students.I did a coaching call with my small group of Incubator coaching clients.We ran a 3 day sale.

That’s a whole lot of socialising and coaching calls I don’t ordinarily do!

Blog posts I publishedMay 2022 Biz & Life Review$100 off for the next 72 hours!InterviewsBecoming Me AgainThe Intentional Creator PodcastPlanner Craft Pro summitCurrent list of software I use to run my business:Kajabi for most things in my business:selling through their shopping cartteaching my courses through their learning management systemrunning my affiliate programActiveCampaign to send all our marketing emails.Optin Monster to create all the pop-ups, reminder windows & lead magnet forms on my website.Calendly to screen interviewers and book in interviews.Xero is my accounting & financial management system.I host my WordPress websites on WPEngine.

More tools of the trade here if you find that kind of thing useful!

How much money I made

$79,825

Where that income came from:E-courses: $68,916Goal Getter planners (digital): $371Goal Getter planners (print royalties): $256Passive income business: $7,150
I set up this business 6 years ago, worked on it actively for a couple of years, and now it’s income that is 100% passive.Shares & Ethical Managed Funds: No increase.Investment property: Now converted to a family property for in-laws.Affiliate for Kajabi: $1500Calm Christmas Planner on Etsy: $24Grants: $1374
For an Export Market Development Grant.Cashback: $207
We pay for all our life & business expenses on awards credit cards that we pay off in full each month before interest is charged. And then we take the awards as cashback. Basically – we get money back for money we have spent. Free money! (As long as you pay it off religiously however!)Honey: $10 giftcard
I use the free Honey plugin to search for coupons and discounts whenever I’m buying online. It works a charm and I save money – sometimes $25+ in a single purchase. AND I also get awards for using it, that I then cash out as an Amazon giftcard. Free money!Upstreet: Currently at $17.03.
Upstreet is another free app that gives me fractional shares when I purchase with participating companies. I was getting meal delivery with Marley Spoon, so I earned $17 in Marley Spoon shares! It’s pretty fun really… especially when it’s free money!E-course income breakdown:40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course: $17,515Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income: $13,650Sales Star: $12,89640 Days To A Finished Book: $7,858Marketing Without Social Media: $3,820Work Less, Earn More: $1,090Get Organised!: $436Mini workshop: Behind The Scenes of A Multi-Millionaire’s Finances: $200

 

Expenses

Due to popular request, I’m going to include expenses for the business as well to give you an even more transparent look at profitability.

Contractors: $5,759
This is for 1 part time Customer Service Virtual Assistant and 1 part time Online Business Manager. This is probably on the higher side for pricing, but I don’t mind paying more for people who I trust and have a long term working relationship with. I want them to feel appreciated, and I want them to be able to live good lives.Affiliates: $7,200Paypal & account fees: $1,133Accounting: $3,000Software subscriptions for everything we use to run our business online (see full list further below): $2235Website hosting: $98Courses & books (for me & my staff to learn from, we are continuously learning): $1,000Minimum purchase order to qualify for my passive income business income: $150

Total expenses this month: $20,575

Profit levels!

Total profit: $59,250 (before tax)

That’s approx 75% profit EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes).

From that profit, my husband and I take salaries (that we then pay personal tax on) and pay compulsory superannuation (contributions to retirement funds).

The rest of the profit stays in the holding company, and regularly gets invested in ethical managed funds. If you want more details on how we manage and grow our income streams, Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income is the course for you!

Goals for next month

To be honest, I’m not going to set goals for July. I’m just going to trust myself and follow my flow! HOORAY!

It’s a joy to be here!

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Love,

FREE GOODIES:

Weekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post June 2022: Biz & Life Review appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

On Being Psychiatrically Diagnosed with ADHD

Dearests,

Nearly a decade ago, I realised I was Autistic. It was life-changing for me to discover in my early 30s that so much of what I had struggled with in my life wasn’t actually my fault – it was how my brain was built. I was officially diagnosed by a psychologist two years ago. It wasn’t surprising to get the official ASD diagnosis, I already knew deep in my cells that’s what the answer was. What surprised me was my diagnosing psychologist said I may also have ADHD as my working memory was low.

At the time, I didn’t understand or identify with having ADHD.

In my mind, I didn’t look like the stereotypical image of ADHD: a young boy who can’t concentrate or sit still, and usually did poorly academically. It was the same with ASD of course – I didn’t recognise myself as ASD because our cultural understanding of it is male Sheldon-like characters. It’s only once I started looking at the non-male stereotypes did I find myself represented.

Here’s what helped me recognise my ADHD-ness:Reading articles about women-centric ADHD (here’s a recent one).Discovering that a significant portion of people with ASD also have ADHD (up to 78%).Finding out that ADHD is common for entrepreneurs.I don’t use social media except for occasional video watching on Youtube & TikTok. TikTok has some excellent ADHD educational videos.Talking to my women friends with ADHD.Learning about the 7 types of ADHD (I am inattentive).

Eventually I decided I’d like to try medication for ADHD and see if it made a positive difference.

The process of getting formally diagnosed

Here in Australia, my psychological assessment wasn’t enough to be prescribed ADHD medication. I had to instead have an assessment by a psychiatrist. Here’s some details for those who are interested in the process.

I went to my usual GP, and he referred me to a telehealth psychiatrist (Dr Tanase) who had diagnosed a few of his other patients.I was able to book online.I had to book four months ahead for a diagnosis.It cost $600. I get approx $230 back on Medicare. I acknowledge the enormous privilege of me being able to access and afford formal diagnosis.Because Dr Tanase is in NSW and I’m in QLD, he’s not able to prescribe me directly. Instead, he has to send a letter of recommendation authorising my GP to prescribe the medication to me.Here’s how the process went:It lasted over 30 minutes. It probably could have gone for longer but I didn’t have any further questions, and my case was fairly cut and dry.The psychiatrist asked me a lot of questions about my family history of mental health, trauma and abuse, what medications I currently use, what ADHD symptoms most affected me, if I’d had any drug or alcohol addictions. Some of the questions were confronting. Psychiatrists are clinical practitioners, and aren’t there to provide pastoral support like a psychologist.He also guided me through a test to determine how often I experienced ADHD symptoms. That one made me laugh a lot.
“Do you talk too much in social situations?” “HAHAHAHAHA OH GOD YES.”
“Do you find it difficult to remember appointments?” “OMG YES. I have SO MANY TIMERS set.”
“Are you impulsive or distracted?” “Let me answer that by saying: it takes me 4x as long to go anywhere than it takes my husband. I get completely distracted by everything and have many fine adventures doing exactly what I didn’t intend to do! And then I arrive home three hours later and haven’t remembered anything I was supposed to.”The diagnosis:

In the space of twenty minutes, the psychiatrist said:

“Yes, it’s very clear you have ADHD. It’s not been picked up at this point because you are both highly intelligent and extremely ambitious, so you’ve been able to achieve a level of success. You’ve also constructed an intense level of systems to help you. However, it comes at a cost that is higher than for others.

You’ve been able to mask your ADHD until you had children when the mental load wiped out your executive functioning. This has affected your confidence as a mother.

Since then, you’ve experienced ongoing anxiety and bouts of depression. The anxiety and depression may actually be a symptom of ADHD, and could possibly leave completely if you are medicated for ADHD. It may not, given your strong family history of mental health disorders. However this medication could be life-changing for you.”

I cried at this point.

As he finished up, he asked:

“Do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes. Is it safe for me to drive with this medication.”

“It’s not just safer, it’s highly recommended you do use this medication to drive. A disproportionately large number of car accidents are caused by people with ADHD who are unmedicated.”

This both made me cackle and terrified me.

He also recommended that I try out ADHD coaching. He recommended The Divergent Edge. I’ll have a looksee at them and other ADHD coaches to see what would be the best personality fit for me.

We finished up.

Next steps in the process:I have to do blood tests and an ECG to confirm I am safe to use the medication (dexamphetamine). It’s usually not recommended for people with high blood pressure. I’m in luck – I’ve got low blood pressure.Afterwards, I’ll return to my GP to get prescribed.I’ll start with one tablet, and slowly increase as required. Up to 8 tablets a day if needed. Basically, we’ll be testing what gives the best effect for the least side effect.If the medication is not the right fit for me, I can go back to the psychiatrist to see if something else may work better.And of course, I’m totally open to the possibility that medication isn’t the right fit for me at all. But I do want to try it.Once we hung up:

I went and talked to my husband about it. I could sense I had some feelings building up inside me, so I decided to go for a walk. I took my phone and voicemailed my best mate to talk out what had happened. At a certain point, I began sobbing.

I sobbed for so many reasons.

The euphoria. The euphoria of finally being known. Of having a name for this twisty, glorious, painful, ridiculous, hilarious thing inside me.

The vulnerability of being so seen. How is it possible that in less than an hour, I could be noticed when I haven’t been noticed like this in almost 40 years? I felt sliced right through.

It also made me dare to hope that things might become easier for me. That life may not require the level of jury-rigged systems I have in place to not forget shit. That life doesn’t come at the enormous cost of exhaustion and sensory overwhelm that it currently does.

And lastly, the pain. The pain of how taxing parenting has been for me. How little confidence I’ve had in my parenting skills because constant consistency is my kryptonite. The constant shame of how little things like housework has always somehow felt beyond me. The pain of pushing so hard in every area of my life to somehow be competent. The exhaustion of how all of this is so.much.work.

I sobbed for kilometres until I found a park to lay down in and watch the sky. I wiped my snotty face all over my tshirt. Watched the gums dance in the wind. And then when it was enough, I wound my way back through a boardwalk in the rainforest. Watched the scrub turkey build his nest. Walked back out into the light, and found my way home.

If you asked me if I had a choice between being neurodivergent or not, I would choose neurodivergent. Over and over again. Despite the pain, the frustration, the difficulty. I’d choose it again, just as I’d choose me again.

The best parts of me are tangled up in this. My creativity, my genius, my insight, my hilariousness. I have the best fucking time with myself.

My brain works differently. It is not broken. It just needs different things to thrive. That may mean medication, it may not. But I am determined to give myself whatever I can to make life softer for me.

I’ll let you know what I discover as I go along.

Thank you, as always, for sharing this beautiful, winding path with me.

I love you,

Important Boundaries:

I’m not open to hearing about why you think medication is bad. I wish to try for myself and see if the benefits outweigh any potential negative.

I don’t need to hear how a supplement/essential oil/vitamin/energy healing/special hippy jewellery/himalayan salt prayed over by virgin monks will fix me. I love, appreciate and use complementary medicine. And I’m also very open to using allopathic medicine as well. All are tools in the healing tool belt.

I’m not open to hearing how “everyone is on the spectrum.” Saying that takes away the pain and particular struggle of neurodiverse people. (Also, I reckon that people who say it are usually undiagnosed neurodivergents!)

I’m also not interested in hearing “I don’t understand why everyone wants to be diagnosed these days.” That’s a privileged and ableist perspective to take. We require diagnosis so we can understand our bodies and minds better, and give ourselves the support we require.

Thank you for your understanding and love as always!

FREE GOODIES:

Weekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

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A Creative Life Podcast

Loves,

I am SO thrilled to share another scrumptious interview with you all!

I sat down with Cass and Sam on their podcast A Creative Life for a truly amazing episode. And! Cass is in my Uplevel Incubator, so really this was just like chatting with two new besties.

Cass and Sam describe it best:

Leonie shares her journey from working in government to running her multi million dollar business. Over the years she has created 180 e-courses (!!) and continues to launch new ones all the time.

Cass is a long time fan of Leonie and is currently being coached by her and when Sam took a look at her work, we knew we had to get her on the poddie! Both of our ears pricked up when we found one of her recent courses on how to market without social media. Yours too?!

So, in January 2021 Leonie did a 21 day challenge taking a break from social media and she never went back! She saw her brain heal and her life be filled with so much joy and creativity and self confidence.

In this episode Leonie shares a bunch of ways that you can market without social media (too many to list them all here, you’ll have to give it a listen to find out!) and her signature marketing plan method on a white piece of paper.

Click HERE to listen, or you can find the episode anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Love always,

FREE GOODIES:

Newsletter with absoloodely everything I createWeekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post A Creative Life Podcast appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

What You Can Do In Times Like This (a free poster)

Dearest friends,

Fuckkkkk me my darlings. I can’t even believe we have to be talking about this, but here we are. The wheels of time have turned back half a decade with last week’s devastating overturning of Wade v. Roe in the US.

I’ve been reading, feeling, wondering what to do next. I hate the feelings of despondency that come with these shitty situations… so I always turn towards action. What can I do next? Even as an Australian, how can I support the rights of our American hotties with a uterus?

This helpful tweet by Sherrilyn Ifill (a civil rights lawyer and President of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund) lays out some brilliant action advice for peeps living in America right now.

I wanted to amplify it along, so I made it into a poster for you.

You can download the PDF here.

This is NOT an opt-in. You don’t need to join the freebie library or my mailing list. The download link will take you directly to the PDF.

Feel free to print & share along however you wish. No attribution to me necessary – please just recognise that the words are written by Sherrilyn Ifill.

I am sending you all so much courage, community, resistance and resolution. We will make it through this enormous bullshit. We will make a world safer and more equitable for us all.

Big Love,

The post What You Can Do In Times Like This (a free poster) appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.