The Leonie Dawson Show

Tam and I got WILDLY into it this week. We're talking energy hygiene — how to clear your energy, protect your space, shield your biz, and yes, even your bloody phone. Because that thing is an actual energy portal that can zap ya!
We share the actual daily rituals we use (salt scrubs! crystal grids! hands in the dirt at 6am!), Tam debuts her new favourite concept — Resting Bitch Energy (RBE) — and I tell the story of the enormous black obsidian dildo I placed on my property boundary to deal with a dic*head neighbour. As you do.
If you're a sensitive, spiritual creative who absorbs everyone's feelings like a human sponge, feels fuzzy and anxious for no good reason, or suspects your phone might be energetically fuc*ing with your sleep… this one's for you, possum.
What we get into:
How to call your soul back into your body (and the signs it's wandered off — hello clumsiness, brain fog + random anxiety)
Why you literally cannot process another person's feelings for them, and how to return their energy to sender
Salt scrubs, salt bowls, black salt, and keeping salt next to your bed
Tam's RBE — Resting Bitch Energy — aka the BEST protection upgrade
Working with angels, guides + well ancestors (and why you do NOT want to call in your batshit crazy recent ancestors)
Crystal gridding your property with black tourmaline, obsidian, rose quartz + more
Sigils for protection (ancient practice, dead easy to do)
Smoking herbs, resins, essential oils + DIY mist sprays
Your phone as an energy portal — why it doesn't belong in your bedroom
Using your ancestry DNA to find YOUR ancestral spiritual traditions (I took mine to Claude and it was FASCINATING)
Outsourcing to energy healers + body workers when the DIY isn't enough
Boundaries as energy protection. Full stop.
Nurturing your energy through joy, creativity, nature + community
Gems from this episode:
Your soul can drift just a couple of inches out of your body — and it shows up as anxiety, clumsiness, feeling not-quite-yourself. A 30-second practice of calling it home can shift everything.
You can't heal someone else's energy for them. That's their job. When you're holding their stuff, your body gets confused because it can't DO anything with it. Give it to the earth. Even shit turns into gold in the ecosystem.
Kids under seven will naturally show up in your energy field. That's normal + healthy — they're building their systems off yours.
The strongest protection isn't an elaborate ritual that makes you late for everything. It's being SO full of your own energy there's no room for anyone else's.
Your phone is an energy portal to the world. Remove it from the bedroom. Place crystals near your computer. Write a prayer in your notes app. It sounds woo and it WORKS.
Quotes we loved:
"I actually think I have RBE — Resting Bitch Energy. Stuff doesn't stick to that." — Tam
"You can't process another person's feelings for them. You can't heal their energy for them. That is their job and theirs alone." — Leonie
"Your imagination is for seeing what's really there." — Tam
Links + resources mentioned:
Midas Touch — 11-day meditation program inside the Academy. People keep telling us there was a before Midas Touch and an after. It's some of the biggest soul lessons I've ever learned, turned into minutes. leoniedawson.com/midas
Creative Goddess Embodied 2.0 — inside the Academy leoniedawson.com/creative
Protective Magic by Stacey DiMarco — gorgeous book on protection techniques
Andrea Rae — Crystal Academy
Hiro Boga — intuitive healer
Kerry Rowett — kinesiologist + intuitive
Renee Longworth — energy clearing for properties
If this episode gave you something good, we would love a five-star review. It genuinely helps people find us — especially when we talk about topics that ruffle a few feathers.
Big love,Leonie + Tam ✨
#EnergyProtection #ClearYourEnergy #SpiritualBusiness #WomenEntrepreneurs #CrystalGrid #NeurodivergentLife #WooAndBusiness #EnergyHygiene #SpiritualPractice

Darlingheart,
You know that feeling where your brain is on fire, your to-do list has become sentient, and somebody wants to know what's for dinner AGAIN?
Yeah. Tam and I get it. We get it in our BONES.
So we sat down and talked about the two levers you've actually got for overwhelm. (Two! That's double the levers! Exponential growth, baby!) One of them you probably already know. The other one? Freaking life-changing. I didn't discover it until about a year ago and it's been WILD the difference it has made in reducing overwhelm.
If you're a neurodivergent creative drowning in business + parenting + caring roles + all the fekking things, and you've been white-knuckling your way through wondering why "just try harder" hasn't worked... this one's for you.
In this episode we get into:
Why your capacity is completely different from that extrovert with plans out the butthole (and why comparing is pointless)
Traffic light colour-coding your calendar so you can SEE the burnout coming
Golden weeks (my secret weapon — one week a month with NO calls)
The broom-path housework standard that saved my marriage and my sanity
Getting your kids to do their own washing from primary school
Robot vacuums with names (mine's Melissa, Tam's is the Scutter, because of course)
The primitive reflex thing that tripled my nervous system capacity (I KNOW)
Breathwork, sleep, nature + the supplements that actually help ADHD brains
Tam's husband discovering that sunshine is... far infrared. We dieeeeeeeeee.
Quotes that hit:
"I really need you to reduce your standards. I really need you to stop trying to be the perfect mum here because it's wrecking your mental health." — My husband Chris, being very wise over lunch
"I centered myself so I became the main character of my own life." — Tam
"We're just complicated houseplants. We need food, we need sunlight, we need fresh air and water." — Tam, being a poet
"I can do two, three times the amount of work that I used to. And it does not cost in the way that it used to cost me." — Me, still stunned about the primitive reflex resolution thing
Stuff we mentioned:
Laundry Lady (laundry pickup service — Australia)
HelloFresh + Marley Spoon (meal kits)
You Foodz (pre-made meals delivered)
Roborock (the fancy robot vacuum/mop — yes it detects poo)
David Elliott — breathwork meditation
Get Dopa (combined ADHD supplement, UK)
Primal Energy (beef organ supplement, Australia)
Dr Sharon Williams (chiropractor — primitive reflex resolution)
Free meditations from me: leoniedawson.com/shit ✨
If this helped you see a lever you hadn't tried, send it to a friend who needs it. And if you've got a sec, a five-star review means more overwhelmed humans can find us.
Big love,Leonie + Tam
#ReduceOverwhelm #NeurodivergentLife #AUDHDBusiness #NervousSystemRegulation #WorkLessEarnMore #ADHDEntrepreneur #MumBurnout #PrimitiveReflexes #BreathworkHealing #LeonieDawson

Ever spent $30,000 on a business coach that turned out to be a cult? Leonie has. In this episode, she's sharing the full story of how she got sucked into a business coaching program that used textbook cult dynamics — and what it took to get herself back out.
Vague spiritual word salad. Moving goalposts. A Facebook group full of people having "breakthroughs" you can't quite seem to unlock. A coach who purports to have special "codes" or "divine downloads" that you can only access through her. Sound familiar? This episode pulls apart the cult dynamics hiding inside online business coaching — starting with Leonie's own $30K painful lesson.
If you've felt that magnetic pull toward a coach or program that promises to unlock everything, or if you've already gone down that rabbit hole and you're sitting in the shame of it — this one's for you.
Topics Covered
Where cult dynamics show up beyond actual cults (families, schools, business coaching, politics)
Leonie's full story of joining a $30,000 coaching program that was run like a cult
How word salad, vague spiritual language, and repetition create belief over time
Why sunk cost keeps people stuck long after the red flags appear
Robert Lifton's criteria for thought reform and how they map to coaching environments
Why neurodivergent people are particularly vulnerable to cult-like dynamics
The energetic and emotional cleanup process after leaving
How Leonie runs her own coaching differently because of this experience
Key Insights
Cult dynamics aren't limited to cults — they show up in families, schools, spiritual groups, political movements, and business coaching containers.
If a coach positions themselves as the ONLY source of a particular knowledge or "divine download," that's a massive red flag.
Neurodivergent brains are especially vulnerable: the puzzle-solving drive, the dopamine hit of "getting closer," the tendency to take people at face value, and the lifelong conditioning of "maybe I'm the problem."
Vague, poetic, non-concrete teaching is a feature, not a bug — it keeps you coming back because you can never confirm whether you "got it."
If the solution to not getting results is always to invest more, go deeper, or become a better student, you're in a cult dynamic.
The shame belongs to the person creating the manipulative environment, not the person who got caught in it.
Sunk cost fallacy is powerful — Leonie could only face leaving by framing it as a "three-month break" rather than quitting outright.
Intelligent, successful people are consistently shown by research to be susceptible to cult dynamics. It's not about being naive.
Creating proprietary language creates insiders and outsiders, and strips people of vocabulary to describe their experience once they leave.
Non-disparagement clauses in coaching contracts don't hold up under the US Federal Trade Commission.
Notable Quotes
"You wanted the dopamine hit of figuring it out. Each step along the way gave you another little dopamine hit of I'm getting closer, I'm getting closer. Pattern-seeking brains plus the deliberate hiding of the pattern is really addictive — it's just crack." — Tam
Links & Resources Mentioned
Previous episode: Ep #220: Coaching Myths Busted!
Previous episode: Ep #219: Narcissists at Work, Home & In Families
Knitting Cult Lady on TikTok — author of The Culting of America
Robert Lifton's thought reform criteria (1960s research)
If this episode hit home for you, share it with a friend who might need to hear it.
#CultDynamics #BusinessCoaching #NeurodivergentEntrepreneur #AuDHD #OnlineBusiness #CoachingRedFlags #WomenInBusiness #CultRecovery

Leonie's back after a break, recording this one solo from bed (because minimal viable podcast is still podcast), and she's spilling everything from the last six weeks — a $151K launch month, an intimate in-person retreat, an ADHD food-forgetting saga, a holiday that healed her heart, and enough book and TV recommendations to fill your entire weekend.
Who this is for: If you're a neurodivergent creative who's been told there's only one "right" way to launch, or you're wondering whether courses and memberships still work in the age of AI, this episode is your permission slip and your proof of concept all in one.
Topics covered:
How Leonie ran a $151K launch month with zero paid ads and zero pre-written content HO HO HO
The return of Backstage Pass and why launching in public keeps her accountable
Running an affiliate competition that paid out $7,500+ in commissions (and a crystal dildo)
Hosting her first small in-person retreat for Grow Mastermind members
The confidence-before-competence trap and why you have to do the thing to build the thing
Healing unresolved primitive reflexes and the nervous system capacity shift it created
Life updates — kids turning 12 and 16, a healing holiday to Jervis Bay
Book reviews, TV recommendations, and a rant about thought leaders staying silent on politics
Key insights:
You don't need everything pre-written to launch. Leonie decided what to launch on a Wednesday and had the sales page live by midnight. Waiting for "ready" means never launching.
Adding live chat (Chatra) to her website during launch converted browsers: 45% of chats were sales questions.
Confidence and competence aren't prerequisites — they're byproducts of doing the thing. Leonie was nervous before her first intimate retreat despite having run conferences for 100+ people.
An 85% profit margin came from keeping expenses radically low: ~$23,200 total costs against $151K revenue.
Unresolved primitive reflexes can dramatically affect neurodivergent adults — healing them gave Leonie significantly more nervous system capacity and reduced autistic burnout symptoms.
When your body is out of alignment (literally — displaced tailbone), your energy and spirit follow. Bodywork during launches isn't optional.
Technology disruption is the pattern, not the exception. Netflix pivoted through DVDs nobody owned, an internet nobody trusted, and a dot-com bubble bursting — courses and memberships aren't dead, they're adapting.
Notable quotes:
"I will not abandon myself in this process. I will still be my own cheerleader. I will alchemize all of this into gold and I will do this in a way that is loving and kind to myself."
"The only way to build confidence and competence is by actually doing the fucking thing."
"I love that I've been able to send $900,000 to women's small business owners instead of doing paid advertising with billion dollar social media companies."
Links & resources mentioned:
Backstage Pass — leoniedawson.com/backstage
Unicorn Biz & Life Academy — leoniedawson.com/academy
Million Dollar Memberships program (inside the Academy)
Chatra live chat
Burnout to Breakthrough podcast episode
That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph (Netflix memoir)
Our Members Be Unlimited by Sam Wallman (graphic nonfiction)
Still Bobby by Bobby Brown (beauty brand memoir)
My Story by Jo Malone (fragrance brand memoir)
Rachel Rogers' Substack piece on obsolete jobs
TV: The Other Bennet Sister, Last One Laughing UK, Mum (BBC), Celebrity Traitors UK
Dr. Sharon Williams, chiropractor/kinesiologist in Canberra (primitive reflexes)
If you loved this episode, share it with a friend who needs to hear that launching doesn't have to look like everyone else's version. Leave a five-star review wherever you listen — it helps more neurodivergent creatives find us.
#NeurodivergentBusiness #ADHDEntrepreneur #LaunchWithoutBurnout #WomenInBusiness #MembershipModel #CreativeEntrepreneur #AuDHD #OnlineBusiness #SpiritualBusiness #UnicornBizAcademy

Everyone's panicking that AI is going to kill e-courses. Leonie's been selling courses online since 2008 and she's seen every "this is dead" cycle the internet has to offer. Podcasting was too niche. NFTs were the future. And now, apparently, your course is toast because ChatGPT exists. In this conversation with Claire Venus from Sparkle on Substack, Leonie breaks down the one very specific type of course that IS affected by AI, why everything else is completely fine, and what actually makes people pay for your brain instead of asking a robot.
Who this is for: If you've got a course, a membership, or a coaching program and you've been lying awake wondering whether AI just made your entire business model obsolete — take a breath. This episode will sort the signal from the noise.
Topics covered:
The exact type of e-course AI threatens (generic how-to content you could already Google)
Why unique perspective, lived experience, and transformation are AI-proof
The "basic bitch results" test for whether your content is at risk
Why every generation of internet creators has faced a "this is dead" panic — and been wrong
How the market maturing is actually making things better for ethical, transparent creators
Building a course library of 140+ programs over 16 years while only working part-time
Why "discerning buyers" isn't a trust recession, it's a sign of a maturing idustry
Key Insights:
The only courses AI genuinely threatens are straight how-to walkthroughs with no unique information — the "click this button, then click that button" kind.
If you have unique results, a unique perspective, or you create actual transformation in people, AI cannot replicate what you do. It'll give generic results every time.
People are still buying courses. They're just buying smarter. That's good news if you're the real deal.
Leonie has 140+ courses in her Academy and hasn't lost sleep over AI because the value isn't in information — it's in her specific, weird, lived experience of building a million-dollar-a-year business as a part-time neurodivergent hippie.
The panic cycle is predictable. The people who ignore it and keep creating are the ones still standing a decade later.
Notable Quotes:
"If you want the basic bitch result, AI is for you. But if you want extraordinary results, you need to learn from people." — Leonie
"AI is really shit at doing things like creating transformation, creating experience, sharing really unique experience." — Leonie
"Just because people are saying this doesn't actually mean it's true." — Leonie
#AIandCourses #OnlineCourses #CreativeEntrepreneur #CourseCreator #AIProof #NeurodivergentBusiness #WomenInBusiness #MembershipModel #DigitalProducts #CoursesArentDead