Leonardi leads way for business minded moms
Julatten author and mother nominated for AusMumpreneur Awards
Mum. Julatten resident. AusMumpreneur Award nominee – Crystal Leonardi is proud of every role she plays in her day to day.
“I am an author, motivational speaker, publisher, wife, and mother to four beautiful children. I was born and raised in Cairns, but now call Julatten ‘home’,” she told Newsport.
Mrs Leonardi of Bowerbird Publishing has been nominated for the 2022 AusMumpreneur Awards.
Personal story offers message of hope
Her lifelong dream of becoming an author was fulfilled in September 2021, with the publication of 'Boy of Steel'.
'Boy of Steel' has been embraced and recognized by audiences as not only a story of survival, personally experienced by Leonardi, but as a gritty memoir that peers into every corner and crevice of her heartbreak and devastation, unexpectedly balanced out with an uplifting message of hope and how the power of a mother’s love made survival possible.
“Unexpectedly, by sharing my story, I had become an ambassador for overcoming adversity
and was newly equipped with the confidence I needed to start Bowerbird Publishing.
“I feel very blessed to be an advocate for hope and a voice for sick children.”
Award sets standard for professional and family balance
The AusMumpreneur Awards are presented by The Women’s Business School and were created to inspire, celebrate, and provide a community for Australian entrepreneurs and recognize talented mums in business, or mumpreneurs, from all over the country.
Success celebrated in areas including business excellence, tech, product development, customer service, and innovation.
The nominee attributes her success to date down to having a clear vision and realistic goals.
“The greatest lesson being in business has taught me to do your research and follow through with business decisions, even if you realize it's not going to be financially viable. I believe these decisions teach us valuable lessons.”
In the thirteenth year the AusMumpreneur Awards have run, the business mum community is growing at lightning speed as mothers look for opportunities to join the ranks of small business owners in search of more flexibility, financial freedom, and family time.
The Women’s Business School co-founder Katy Garner said about the awards.
“The awards show the passion of women who want to fulfil their entrepreneurial dreams as well as be great mums. Of the 670,000 women operating a small business in Australia currently, around 50 per cent are mums with children at home. We are proud to be the number one community for mumpreneurs and showcasing the best and the brightest each year through these awards.”
Leonardi’s lessons in business
These awards recognise the challenges to being a successful businesswoman while raising a family and Mrs Leonardi hopes to be able to give advice for others thinking about starting their own enterprise.
These awards recognise the challenges to being a successful businesswoman while raising a family and Mrs Leonardi hopes to be able to give advice for others thinking about starting their own enterprise.
“Ensure you do a business plan and know your budget,” she said as her key piece of advice.
More books to come
The award nomination has further motivated the mum to pen more books with the next two publications on the horizon.
“I hope to continue to grow my audiences through my business Bowerbird Publishing. My second book, ‘My Brother Sebastian’ is currently being worked on by my illustrator and will be ready for publication in August this year.”
My Brother Sebastian' is a children’s book aimed at siblings of sick children and dedicated to easing the burden on parents faced with explaining the serious illness to young children.
It is sure to have a great following as will the next addition to her titles.
“My third book, '6 Steps to Self-Publishing with Crystal Leonardi' is an interactive handbook aimed at writers wanting to commence a self-publishing project.”
Doing it yourself is not as hard as it once was
As a self-published author, she has learned how to successfully manage and market herself without the assistance of one of the 'Big-4' publishing houses in Australia.
“I am heavily driven by a willingness to share the valuable and cost-saving lessons I learned with other upcoming writers and/or self-published authors.”
“I believe becoming a published author under such tragic circumstances has fostered a genuine motivation to help others.
“I have turned my tragedy into triumph.”
The winners of the 2022 AusMumpreneur Awards will be announced at a glamourous event in Sydney this September.
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