September 1, 2026 • 17 mins
I recorded this conversation in 2022.
Then life happened.
It sat on a hard drive for years.
Today, it's finally seeing the light of day.
I originally thought this interview was about building a seven-figure business.
Listening back now, I realised it's really about something much more important.
Leslie Kuster shares the decisions that changed the course of her life - from devastating personal loss, to leaving everything familiar behind, to building a multiple seven-figure business.
But this isn't a conversation about money.
In this episode, we unpack:
- The Comfort Trap: Why playing it safe is the riskiest decision you can make.
- Purpose Through Pain: Navigating grief and using it to redefine your path.
- The 7-Figure Shift: The exact mindset changes required to scale a business.
- Starting Late: Why your timeline doesn't matter when it comes to reinventing your life.
1:06 The Real Cost of Staying Comfortable
4:03 The Loss That Changed Everything
5:53 Finding Purpose Through Pain
7:29 Building a Business from Bali
9:19 The 7-Figure Decision
9:42 Why Mindset Beats Strategy
14:43 It's Never Too Late to Begin
Follow Leslie:
Website: https://www.lesliekuster.com/
Book:” 7 Keys to 7 Figures - The Women Entrepreneurs' Guide to Money & Freedom”
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leslie.kuster/
This episode is part of I Never Released These... The Lost Tapes, a special 12-part series featuring interviews I recorded between 2022 and 2024 that never made it into the world... until now.
Follow Merilyn:
Instagram: @merilyn
Website: merilyn.com
Listen
Watch
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Merilyn (00:00):
Before we jump into today's episode, I have a
confession.
Between 2022 and 2024, Irecorded 12 podcast interviews
that I never edited andreleased.
I recorded them, I disappeareddown the rabbit hole of life.
ADHD, family.
A complete rethink ofeverything.
So I've decided to do somethingabout it.
(00:22):
Over the next 12 days, I'mreleasing one every day as part
of a special series I'm calling"I Never Release These".
Some of them may have agedbeautifully, some of them might
make me cringe.
So we'll discover thesetogether.
This is "I Never ReleaseThese - The Lost Tapes." This
first conversation is withentrepreneur Leslie Kuster.
(00:45):
At the time, I thought we weretalking about seven-figure
business.
Listening back now, I thinkwe're actually talking about
courage.
Why do some people makelife-changing decisions?
While everyone else keepswaiting until they feel ready.
Listen carefully to how Leslieanswers that question.
Leslie (01:06):
It's difficult to make those changes because we were
comfortable and we had abeautiful apartment and we had
friends, and my husband had agood job and all those things.
But the decision was made,let's jump.
What it meant was Heinz, myhusband, quitting his job,
saying goodbye to our friends,putting things in storage, and
not really having any ideaexactly what we were going to do
(01:28):
or where we were we were goingto land.
It was really, reallyuncomfortable.
Those moments of like, what didI do?
We have we have a beautifulapartment.
Why are we leaving?
We have a wonderful life.
I live in Switzerland.
What's going on?
And those are the doubts thatstart to come in, which many
people have and keep them frozenand doing the exact same thing
(01:48):
they're doing.
And I believe in being scaredand I believe in being
uncomfortable.
And I think that that is thereason why I find myself where I
am now, which is in a reallyamazing life, because of just
jumping and being scared,absolutely, 100%, but just doing
(02:09):
it because very early in mylife, I experienced a lot of
deaths and losses and havecontinued to throughout my life.
So death and loss is alwayssomething around me.
And I always reflect on whatelse is there, because who knows
when it's all going to end.
Merilyn (02:28):
What would you say is your biggest wow, your
purpose? Tell us what that is.
The whole talk about what isyour genius, right?
Like what is your genius?
And I take a lot of radicalaction based on clarity and
yearnings.
I get very in touch with whatI'm frustrated with or unhappy
(02:49):
with or what I'm yearning for orwhat I'm dissatisfied with.
I notice that what happens witha lot of people, they also feel
that, they also know that, theyalso identify that, but then
they don't necessarily doanything about it.
And I have always done a lotabout it.
So as soon as any of thoserumblings are happening in my
life, and I notice yesterdaythey're starting to happen
(03:12):
again, then I do something aboutit and I take actions.
How do you navigate that with a partner?
Leslie (03:20):
So he had the vision inside himself that one day he
wanted to quit his job as well.
He was pretty much on boardwhen we both decided to just
jump and do this.
You need to understand thatwe're not alone in this
universe, right?
And that we have help, we haveunseen help in however you want
(03:40):
to call it.
And having a deep connection toone's inner life is truthfully
the secret to everything.
When that is your focus, you'renot like alone and you have
that always around you.
So you can journal and you canpray and you could write and you
can meditate.
All of those practices areessential to living a life where
(04:01):
you are taking risks.
You had a lot of experiencewith loss.
I was 17 when it when it happened.
My boyfriend was coming backfrom university to take me out
for dinner for my high schoolgraduation.
And he never arrived.
He was sadly killed in a caraccident.
(04:21):
So that experience that's nottypical for every 17-year-old to
go through.
So that was given to me at asuper young age.
I was with my mom shortlyafter.
I have no idea how I knew this,but I said that things happen
in life, but it's your attitudetowards it that makes the
difference.
I just knew this at 17 that Ihad a choice of being a victim
(04:47):
to the situation, which wouldhave sounded like, poor me, and
bad things happened to me, and Ihate my life, and I'm never
going back to school.
And but I really saw this as anopportunity to deepen my life
and to understand how precious,how incredibly precious life is,
(05:09):
and how this could literallyhappen at any moment.
So that was something thatcould set my life.
Um, where a 17-year-old or a20-year-old doesn't even ever
think about death, and maybeeven a 50-year-old doesn't think
about it either, because a lotof people are really
uncomfortable to talk about it,to mention it.
Because of that experience,I've been really aware of it and
(05:30):
very comfortable with it all mylife.
And sadly, it kept happening interms of other losses.
I mean, I don't mean to laugh,but it has continued.
So it's a little bit of a placein my life where I've I've
experienced loss over and overagain, as so many of us have.
Merilyn (05:46):
But you've got a beautiful way of navigating
that.
What other gifts have come outof that experience for you?
Leslie (05:53):
I had a lot of miscarriages in my life as well.
I very much wanted to havechildren, and that didn't
happen.
The last miscarriage I had waswhen I was about 32 years old,
and I was devastated, cryingconstantly.
And if anyone's been throughmiscarriages who's listening to
this, they know how painful itis.
(06:14):
And my dad at the time had beengoing to a spiritual retreat.
My dad was uh the unusual kindof man.
And at that time, I was notspiritual, I was not interested
in it.
And when the last of mymiscarriages happened, I was a
mess.
And he said to me, Why don'tyou go to this place and I'll
(06:36):
pay for you?
Go for a week.
And I felt like the firstmiscarriage, the universe said,
Well, she's not waking up to it.
Let's give her another one.
And then number two came and Igot another punch, and then I
got number three and numberfour, like a rocket ship, sent
me out to New Mexico of allplaces.
I really experienced whatspirituality is, which is
(07:01):
basically connection andconnection to the divine and
connection to your heart.
And it completely and totallychanged my life.
I separated and divorced myhusband afterwards.
I left and moved back to NewYork.
I started my business.
Everything in my life changed.
I met my husband, who I've beenmarried to for almost 30 years.
(07:22):
Those miscarriages, what theydid was to bring me to where I
now am.
Merilyn (07:29):
You've got a product-based business.
It's called Back from Bali.
What was the idea behind that?
Leslie (07:35):
I made a decision that what I was going to do is go
traveling by myself, which I'dnever done before.
And I went to Indonesia.
I traveled.
I was there all together aboutsix, seven months, including
Australia, which was amazing.
When I got back, I was sittingon my bed in New York City, and
(07:55):
I had to get a job.
This is the 90s.
I start looking for helpwanted, looking, looking, and
there's like not one single jobI possibly want in that entire
newspaper, especially after thefreedom I experienced with
traveling.
And I had one of those lightbulb moments.
(08:18):
I wonder if I went back toBali, and I wonder if I went and
bought a bunch of clothing inBali and brought them back to
the United States.
I wonder if I could sell it.
And I did.
So that's what I did.
Literally a week later, jumpedback on a plane, took a big,
huge double bag, went to Bali,hit the streets, and I just
(08:40):
bought and bought and bought,brought it back to New York,
signed up for street fairs.
And that's how my businessstarted was selling clothing
from Bali on the street.
I had freedom, but I wouldn'texactly call myself that
successful, especiallymoney-wise.
And around about 10 years ago,I knew I could be doing so much
(09:01):
better than I was doing.
However, I had mindset issuesthat went such as my husband is
the one who's supposed to makemost of the money.
And, you know, and I don't wantto lose my freedom and I want
to be able to go to yoga classeswhen I want to.
And if I become successful andreally work hard, I'll lose the
freedom.
I decided that's it, it'sover.
And I am going to build thisbusiness and I'm going to become
(09:24):
successful because I really,really, really, really want to.
And that was a turning pointfor me.
And then I turned my businessinto a multiple seven-figure
business, which is what it isnow.
Merilyn (09:36):
Just basically from a decision.
Leslie (09:38):
It's from a decision.
Merilyn (09:39):
There weren't any major sort of operational
changes or..?
Leslie (09:42):
Of course, tactical how -to is important.
No doubt about it.
But that is not the secret tosuccess.
And you can do all the tacticsyou want to do from morning to
night.
And you could be a completeflop.
Only thing that matters isone's mindset and if you want
(10:02):
it.
It's really the only thing thatmatters.
And when I say mindset andwanting, because you could you
could have even a positivemindset, but you don't
necessarily really, really,really want it.
Or you could really, reallywant it, but your, you know,
your mindset keeps blockingeverything.
It really is a bigger pictureof having a burning desire to do
(10:26):
whatever you want to be doing,and then to work with yourself
on your mindset and yourspiritual connection in order to
support you to make all thathappen.
And that's the keys to success.
I went to Bali and kept goingback to Bali.
I just fell in love with theFranjapani, the flowers and the
tropics and the people, thebeautiful, beautiful Balinese
(10:48):
people.
My line back from Bali isBohemian style clothing that is
colorful and comfortable andeasy to wear at a really
affordable price.
And I kept bringing more andmore clothing back as starting
to design as well.
And then I got the business onAmazon, went into an e-commerce
(11:08):
business where at the beginningI was selling on the street,
like I mentioned.
And then I went intowholesaling.
Then I went into basicallyretail, but direct retail, which
is e-commerce.
And it was in learninge-commerce and learning how to
build a brand on the internet.
That is really what just grewthe business more and more and
more and more.
I have this beautiful business.
(11:30):
I have wonderful relationshipswith my vendors in Bali.
I work only with eitherwomen-based businesses or small
family-based businesses.
And that's the beauty ofworking in Bali because they
don't have factories there.
Everything is grassroots andworking on sewing machines in
different people's homes.
So I go from one hug to anotherwhen I'm there.
(11:53):
And I love that aspect,ethically made Bohemian style
clothing with what's also goingon in the world at the moment.
I'm really happy that I have aprice point that is not luxury
and expensive.
And so during these difficulttimes and everything, I'm happy
I have prices like this becauseit's pretty affordable for most
(12:13):
people.
And then, of course, you know,I had to work with what was
available to me in Bali too.
What kind of fabrics arealready there, and you know,
what kind of buttons are alreadythere.
So those are all the factors.
But I'm happy I have aproduct-based business where it
is affordable for most people.
Business to me is umself-development.
(12:34):
Business is like getting a PhDin your in yourself because you
have to learn everything aboutbusiness from spreadsheets and
finance to your mindset and toworking with people, hiring
people, everything.
And your doubts and your fearsand your competition and your
problems.
(12:54):
And I have a book called SevenKeys to Seven Figures: The Women
Entrepreneur's Guide to Moneyand Freedom.
And I wrote this book because Ireally wondered myself, how in
the world did I do this?
I don't have a business degree.
I don't even know how to sewand I sell women's clothing.
So how in the world did Ireally do this?
(13:16):
And I started to think aboutwhat were the keys that got me
to where I am.
And certainly one of them isget used to setbacks and
problems.
Because having perseverance isone of the major keys to success
because you will have, as abusiness owner, every problem
you could possibly imagine and afew more that you never knew
(13:40):
could even come your way.
But what do you do about thatand how do you get through that?
And that's that's thedifference between people who
keep going and keep figuring outhow they're going to steer
their business ship and succeedand people who don't.
Merilyn (13:55):
So what's next, Leslie?
Leslie (13:56):
I want to help women entrepreneurs make more money
and have more freedom and to doit in a way where there's
authentic success.
I'm also doing some consultingnow for women in business as
well.
I want to really focus andteach more about the deeper
stuff that really gets our lifeto change and to be spiritually
(14:19):
connected to ourselves, to havetime, to have emptiness.
Even though I do teach tacticsand I am a business consultant,
what really matters is goingdeeper, deeper.
So I would like to work withwomen who want to explore that
and build beautiful lives basedon their connection to their
(14:41):
deeper feminine self.
Merilyn (14:43):
What would you say to other women who go, I'm winding
down, or it's too late for me?
Leslie (14:48):
It's really your choice.
And this is a mindset, this isa story inside your head that is
telling you those things, andit's telling you those things
because you're scared offailing, or you're scared of
trying, or you are scared ofsucceeding, and what that could
do to your life, or what yourparents will think if you're
(15:10):
successful, or your partner willthink if you make more money
than him or her.
All of these things, even apositive change like a
successful business, sendsripples down your family,
community, everything.
People start to see you indifferent ways.
Whatever you're thinking isyour choice, and whatever you're
thinking is what's going tohappen.
So if you think you're windingdown, it's time to slow down.
(15:35):
If that's how you think, that'swhat will happen.
But that is a missedopportunity because it's not
true.
Merilyn (15:45):
Is there anything else that you haven't shared that's
really on the tip of your tongueor in your heart that you'd
like to share?
Leslie (15:50):
Yeah, just have fun.
Make sure every day you havefun, whatever that fun is,
having your cup of tea, staringat a cloud, looking at a flower,
playing with a dog, petting acat, anything that calms you
down and go dancing, godrumming, just have fun.
Make sure there's fun in yourlife.
Merilyn (16:10):
I want to finish off with one question.
My heart is to change thelanguage around women who are
leading.
What does that phrase lead yourworld mean personally to you?
Leslie (16:21):
We all live in our own world, even though we think our
world is like someone else'sworld.
So we have the opportunity tolead really in our our own
world, the one person you livewith in your apartment or your
house, or you know, the thefamily you run into at the
(16:43):
supermarket, or you're reachingthousands of people, it doesn't
really matter how many people weare touching.
What's important is that uhwomen lead and that we are all
talking about this.
This this is this is our time.
This is an extraordinary timefor women, like opportunities
(17:04):
like never before.
And we all have aresponsibility to lead in
whichever way we can, no matterhow big it is and no matter how
small it is.
It means knowing what yourvalues are, knowing what's
important to yourself, deep,deep, deep, not what other
people think, and reallyfollowing those things and
(17:24):
sharing that with other people.
Beautifully fit.
Before we jump into today's episode, I have a
confession.
Between 2022 and 2024, Irecorded 12 podcast interviews
that I never edited andreleased.
I recorded them, I disappeareddown the rabbit hole of life.
ADHD, family.
A complete rethink ofeverything.
So I've decided to do somethingabout it.
(00:22):
Over the next 12 days, I'mreleasing one every day as part
of a special series I'm calling"I Never Release These".
Some of them may have agedbeautifully, some of them might
make me cringe.
So we'll discover thesetogether.
This is "I Never ReleaseThese - The Lost Tapes." This
first conversation is withentrepreneur Leslie Kuster.
(00:45):
At the time, I thought we weretalking about seven-figure
business.
Listening back now, I thinkwe're actually talking about
courage.
Why do some people makelife-changing decisions?
While everyone else keepswaiting until they feel ready.
Listen carefully to how Leslieanswers that question.
Leslie (01:06):
It's difficult to make those changes because we were
comfortable and we had abeautiful apartment and we had
friends, and my husband had agood job and all those things.
But the decision was made,let's jump.
What it meant was Heinz, myhusband, quitting his job,
saying goodbye to our friends,putting things in storage, and
not really having any ideaexactly what we were going to do
(01:28):
or where we were we were goingto land.
It was really, reallyuncomfortable.
Those moments of like, what didI do?
We have we have a beautifulapartment.
Why are we leaving?
We have a wonderful life.
I live in Switzerland.
What's going on?
And those are the doubts thatstart to come in, which many
people have and keep them frozenand doing the exact same thing
(01:48):
they're doing.
And I believe in being scaredand I believe in being
uncomfortable.
And I think that that is thereason why I find myself where I
am now, which is in a reallyamazing life, because of just
jumping and being scared,absolutely, 100%, but just doing
(02:09):
it because very early in mylife, I experienced a lot of
deaths and losses and havecontinued to throughout my life.
So death and loss is alwayssomething around me.
And I always reflect on whatelse is there, because who knows
when it's all going to end.
Merilyn (02:28):
What would you say is your biggest wow, your
purpose? Tell us what that is.
The whole talk about what isyour genius, right?
Like what is your genius?
And I take a lot of radicalaction based on clarity and
yearnings.
I get very in touch with whatI'm frustrated with or unhappy
(02:49):
with or what I'm yearning for orwhat I'm dissatisfied with.
I notice that what happens witha lot of people, they also feel
that, they also know that, theyalso identify that, but then
they don't necessarily doanything about it.
And I have always done a lotabout it.
So as soon as any of thoserumblings are happening in my
life, and I notice yesterdaythey're starting to happen
(03:12):
again, then I do something aboutit and I take actions.
How do you navigate that with a partner?
Leslie (03:20):
So he had the vision inside himself that one day he
wanted to quit his job as well.
He was pretty much on boardwhen we both decided to just
jump and do this.
You need to understand thatwe're not alone in this
universe, right?
And that we have help, we haveunseen help in however you want
(03:40):
to call it.
And having a deep connection toone's inner life is truthfully
the secret to everything.
When that is your focus, you'renot like alone and you have
that always around you.
So you can journal and you canpray and you could write and you
can meditate.
All of those practices areessential to living a life where
(04:01):
you are taking risks.
You had a lot of experiencewith loss.
I was 17 when it when it happened.
My boyfriend was coming backfrom university to take me out
for dinner for my high schoolgraduation.
And he never arrived.
He was sadly killed in a caraccident.
(04:21):
So that experience that's nottypical for every 17-year-old to
go through.
So that was given to me at asuper young age.
I was with my mom shortlyafter.
I have no idea how I knew this,but I said that things happen
in life, but it's your attitudetowards it that makes the
difference.
I just knew this at 17 that Ihad a choice of being a victim
(04:47):
to the situation, which wouldhave sounded like, poor me, and
bad things happened to me, and Ihate my life, and I'm never
going back to school.
And but I really saw this as anopportunity to deepen my life
and to understand how precious,how incredibly precious life is,
(05:09):
and how this could literallyhappen at any moment.
So that was something thatcould set my life.
Um, where a 17-year-old or a20-year-old doesn't even ever
think about death, and maybeeven a 50-year-old doesn't think
about it either, because a lotof people are really
uncomfortable to talk about it,to mention it.
Because of that experience,I've been really aware of it and
(05:30):
very comfortable with it all mylife.
And sadly, it kept happening interms of other losses.
I mean, I don't mean to laugh,but it has continued.
So it's a little bit of a placein my life where I've I've
experienced loss over and overagain, as so many of us have.
Merilyn (05:46):
But you've got a beautiful way of navigating
that.
What other gifts have come outof that experience for you?
Leslie (05:53):
I had a lot of miscarriages in my life as well.
I very much wanted to havechildren, and that didn't
happen.
The last miscarriage I had waswhen I was about 32 years old,
and I was devastated, cryingconstantly.
And if anyone's been throughmiscarriages who's listening to
this, they know how painful itis.
(06:14):
And my dad at the time had beengoing to a spiritual retreat.
My dad was uh the unusual kindof man.
And at that time, I was notspiritual, I was not interested
in it.
And when the last of mymiscarriages happened, I was a
mess.
And he said to me, Why don'tyou go to this place and I'll
(06:36):
pay for you?
Go for a week.
And I felt like the firstmiscarriage, the universe said,
Well, she's not waking up to it.
Let's give her another one.
And then number two came and Igot another punch, and then I
got number three and numberfour, like a rocket ship, sent
me out to New Mexico of allplaces.
I really experienced whatspirituality is, which is
(07:01):
basically connection andconnection to the divine and
connection to your heart.
And it completely and totallychanged my life.
I separated and divorced myhusband afterwards.
I left and moved back to NewYork.
I started my business.
Everything in my life changed.
I met my husband, who I've beenmarried to for almost 30 years.
(07:22):
Those miscarriages, what theydid was to bring me to where I
now am.
Merilyn (07:29):
You've got a product-based business.
It's called Back from Bali.
What was the idea behind that?
Leslie (07:35):
I made a decision that what I was going to do is go
traveling by myself, which I'dnever done before.
And I went to Indonesia.
I traveled.
I was there all together aboutsix, seven months, including
Australia, which was amazing.
When I got back, I was sittingon my bed in New York City, and
(07:55):
I had to get a job.
This is the 90s.
I start looking for helpwanted, looking, looking, and
there's like not one single jobI possibly want in that entire
newspaper, especially after thefreedom I experienced with
traveling.
And I had one of those lightbulb moments.
(08:18):
I wonder if I went back toBali, and I wonder if I went and
bought a bunch of clothing inBali and brought them back to
the United States.
I wonder if I could sell it.
And I did.
So that's what I did.
Literally a week later, jumpedback on a plane, took a big,
huge double bag, went to Bali,hit the streets, and I just
(08:40):
bought and bought and bought,brought it back to New York,
signed up for street fairs.
And that's how my businessstarted was selling clothing
from Bali on the street.
I had freedom, but I wouldn'texactly call myself that
successful, especiallymoney-wise.
And around about 10 years ago,I knew I could be doing so much
(09:01):
better than I was doing.
However, I had mindset issuesthat went such as my husband is
the one who's supposed to makemost of the money.
And, you know, and I don't wantto lose my freedom and I want
to be able to go to yoga classeswhen I want to.
And if I become successful andreally work hard, I'll lose the
freedom.
I decided that's it, it'sover.
And I am going to build thisbusiness and I'm going to become
(09:24):
successful because I really,really, really, really want to.
And that was a turning pointfor me.
And then I turned my businessinto a multiple seven-figure
business, which is what it isnow.
Merilyn (09:36):
Just basically from a decision.
Leslie (09:38):
It's from a decision.
Merilyn (09:39):
There weren't any major sort of operational
changes or..?
Leslie (09:42):
Of course, tactical how -to is important.
No doubt about it.
But that is not the secret tosuccess.
And you can do all the tacticsyou want to do from morning to
night.
And you could be a completeflop.
Only thing that matters isone's mindset and if you want
(10:02):
it.
It's really the only thing thatmatters.
And when I say mindset andwanting, because you could you
could have even a positivemindset, but you don't
necessarily really, really,really want it.
Or you could really, reallywant it, but your, you know,
your mindset keeps blockingeverything.
It really is a bigger pictureof having a burning desire to do
(10:26):
whatever you want to be doing,and then to work with yourself
on your mindset and yourspiritual connection in order to
support you to make all thathappen.
And that's the keys to success.
I went to Bali and kept goingback to Bali.
I just fell in love with theFranjapani, the flowers and the
tropics and the people, thebeautiful, beautiful Balinese
(10:48):
people.
My line back from Bali isBohemian style clothing that is
colorful and comfortable andeasy to wear at a really
affordable price.
And I kept bringing more andmore clothing back as starting
to design as well.
And then I got the business onAmazon, went into an e-commerce
(11:08):
business where at the beginningI was selling on the street,
like I mentioned.
And then I went intowholesaling.
Then I went into basicallyretail, but direct retail, which
is e-commerce.
And it was in learninge-commerce and learning how to
build a brand on the internet.
That is really what just grewthe business more and more and
more and more.
I have this beautiful business.
(11:30):
I have wonderful relationshipswith my vendors in Bali.
I work only with eitherwomen-based businesses or small
family-based businesses.
And that's the beauty ofworking in Bali because they
don't have factories there.
Everything is grassroots andworking on sewing machines in
different people's homes.
So I go from one hug to anotherwhen I'm there.
(11:53):
And I love that aspect,ethically made Bohemian style
clothing with what's also goingon in the world at the moment.
I'm really happy that I have aprice point that is not luxury
and expensive.
And so during these difficulttimes and everything, I'm happy
I have prices like this becauseit's pretty affordable for most
(12:13):
people.
And then, of course, you know,I had to work with what was
available to me in Bali too.
What kind of fabrics arealready there, and you know,
what kind of buttons are alreadythere.
So those are all the factors.
But I'm happy I have aproduct-based business where it
is affordable for most people.
Business to me is umself-development.
(12:34):
Business is like getting a PhDin your in yourself because you
have to learn everything aboutbusiness from spreadsheets and
finance to your mindset and toworking with people, hiring
people, everything.
And your doubts and your fearsand your competition and your
problems.
(12:54):
And I have a book called SevenKeys to Seven Figures: The Women
Entrepreneur's Guide to Moneyand Freedom.
And I wrote this book because Ireally wondered myself, how in
the world did I do this?
I don't have a business degree.
I don't even know how to sewand I sell women's clothing.
So how in the world did Ireally do this?
(13:16):
And I started to think aboutwhat were the keys that got me
to where I am.
And certainly one of them isget used to setbacks and
problems.
Because having perseverance isone of the major keys to success
because you will have, as abusiness owner, every problem
you could possibly imagine and afew more that you never knew
(13:40):
could even come your way.
But what do you do about thatand how do you get through that?
And that's that's thedifference between people who
keep going and keep figuring outhow they're going to steer
their business ship and succeedand people who don't.
Merilyn (13:55):
So what's next, Leslie?
Leslie (13:56):
I want to help women entrepreneurs make more money
and have more freedom and to doit in a way where there's
authentic success.
I'm also doing some consultingnow for women in business as
well.
I want to really focus andteach more about the deeper
stuff that really gets our lifeto change and to be spiritually
(14:19):
connected to ourselves, to havetime, to have emptiness.
Even though I do teach tacticsand I am a business consultant,
what really matters is goingdeeper, deeper.
So I would like to work withwomen who want to explore that
and build beautiful lives basedon their connection to their
(14:41):
deeper feminine self.
Merilyn (14:43):
What would you say to other women who go, I'm winding
down, or it's too late for me?
Leslie (14:48):
It's really your choice.
And this is a mindset, this isa story inside your head that is
telling you those things, andit's telling you those things
because you're scared offailing, or you're scared of
trying, or you are scared ofsucceeding, and what that could
do to your life, or what yourparents will think if you're
(15:10):
successful, or your partner willthink if you make more money
than him or her.
All of these things, even apositive change like a
successful business, sendsripples down your family,
community, everything.
People start to see you indifferent ways.
Whatever you're thinking isyour choice, and whatever you're
thinking is what's going tohappen.
So if you think you're windingdown, it's time to slow down.
(15:35):
If that's how you think, that'swhat will happen.
But that is a missedopportunity because it's not
true.
Merilyn (15:45):
Is there anything else that you haven't shared that's
really on the tip of your tongueor in your heart that you'd
like to share?
Leslie (15:50):
Yeah, just have fun.
Make sure every day you havefun, whatever that fun is,
having your cup of tea, staringat a cloud, looking at a flower,
playing with a dog, petting acat, anything that calms you
down and go dancing, godrumming, just have fun.
Make sure there's fun in yourlife.
Merilyn (16:10):
I want to finish off with one question.
My heart is to change thelanguage around women who are
leading.
What does that phrase lead yourworld mean personally to you?
Leslie (16:21):
We all live in our own world, even though we think our
world is like someone else'sworld.
So we have the opportunity tolead really in our our own
world, the one person you livewith in your apartment or your
house, or you know, the thefamily you run into at the
(16:43):
supermarket, or you're reachingthousands of people, it doesn't
really matter how many people weare touching.
What's important is that uhwomen lead and that we are all
talking about this.
This this is this is our time.
This is an extraordinary timefor women, like opportunities
(17:04):
like never before.
And we all have aresponsibility to lead in
whichever way we can, no matterhow big it is and no matter how
small it is.
It means knowing what yourvalues are, knowing what's
important to yourself, deep,deep, deep, not what other
people think, and reallyfollowing those things and
(17:24):
sharing that with other people.
Beautifully fit.
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