Leanne Pero: Turning Life's Challenges Into Opportunities

When you step up to life, life will step up to meet you. But when you don’t engage with it or put the energy in, then life will happen to you. It will roll over you, drag you along behind it. You either take control of life, or it will take control of you.

Life is like water flowing downhill. It will find its way to the sea – it’s essential destiny – one way or another. And you can either harness its energy, or you can be washed away. 

Admittedly, I was not the target audience, but when I read Leanne Pero’s self-help book, “Take Control” it really resonated with me. So much of what she wrote, inspired by the steps she took to take control of her life, seemed to reflect my own experiences. She talked about gratitude, about fixing yourself because no-one else can, and about being human. Having known her for years as a confident person – a leader – I suddenly saw her in a new light. And my respect for her grew almost instantly.

I’ve always known Leanne as a dancer, and the businesswoman behind Movement Factory, which runs dance workshops for young people. But in the last couple of years I saw her as someone else – someone who starts movements, who brings people together, who is fully engaged in life, and who gives without expecting anything in return.

But more than this, I saw someone who can take the worst that life can throw at them, and turn it into a force for good.

From an early age Leanne suffered the worst kind of abuse. As an escape she threw herself into dance, and flourished not just as a dancer, but as an entrepreneur and a community leader. And then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And again, after going through the horrific ordeal of cancer treatment, she rose up to own her experience. When must people would have simply thrown up their hands in surrender, Leanne used her experiences to take ownership of her life.

At first it started as informal coffee mornings that she organised to bring women like her together, to share their experiences, and to find comfort in the company of people who had been through the same challenges as she had been through. Yet from this casual support group, a new movement was born.

Black Women Rising, is helping people come to terms with the tragedy of breast cancer. And rather than just surviving the illness, she is inspiring women to thrive. To own it, to master it, to refuse to let it own them, but to wear it as a badge of strength, and of pride. To say, “If I can get knocked down by this, and rise up again stronger, then I am unstoppable.”

I feel so lucky that Leanne joined me for a chat on my podcast. I wanted some of her magic to rub off on me. Because if I can harness just 1% of what Leanne has – that drive and talent for owning life, and for making things happen and for inspiring others – then I can’t go wrong 

I hope that you’ll enjoy our conversation – but here’s a trigger warning: We get straight to raw stuff almost straight away. But I hope you’ll find her story as inspiring as I do. And I hope it will motivate you to take control of your life, to take ownership, and to build something amazing.

Listen below:

 To find out more about Leanne and her work, check out these links:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/leanneperoofficial
Black Women Rising Instagram: www.instagram.com/blackwomenrisinguk
The Movement Factory: www.themovementfactory.uk.com
Official website and blog: www.leannepero.com