Meet Me

Here’s my official sounding bio:

Leesa Barnes is an award winning motivational teacher who helps faith-centered solopreneurs, coaches and consultants become financially and spiritually successful. After operating a successful six-figure consulting business, an online global association and authoring countless training programs and bestselling books, Leesa now shares her expertise with aspiring and established entrepreneurs who want to build businesses using faith-inspired tips.

But there’s more to me than 57-words can possibly portray. So, here’s my journey…

My name is Leesa (not Leeza) Barnes. I’ve won many awards (see below), I’ve written many books and I’ve helped my clients achieve many goals since starting my business in 2006.

But, despite my successes, I didn’t know what truly made me unique.

I started my journey in the technology field in 1994 when I worked part-time for my university’s tech support centre. I then graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History. From there, I launched a website during the booming dot com era, I worked as a software project manager for an eLearning company, I’ve been known as a podcasting expert, a an influential social media guru and finally, the go to person for virtual event know how.

But my mentors, my friends, my fans and my God have been calling me to something bigger.

In November 2009, I attended a glitzy 3-day workshop in Las Vegas hosted by millionaire mentor, Ali Brown. It was spectacular, awe-inspiring and mesmerizing. But what mesmerized me the most about the experience was how LOUDLY God called me from my place of mediocrity. It was so jaw jarring that I blogged about the experience of being called back in 2009 (and due to the title of that blog post, I’m surprised by how many people misinterpret the meaning behind the post).

But, instead of moving into my Great Calling, I hid.

I went on a 2-year struggle to do it my way instead of God’s way. I returned to my life of mediocrity and stayed married to Mr. Comfortable for almost 2-years. I went through my very own Jonah Experience.

But God didn’t give up on me. Even though I was busy pursuing my stuff, God kept reminding me in subtle ways that my success rests in Him. It was the day after my 38th birthday while shopping at a clothing store that God made it known that now is the time. That moment has become the most dramatic spiritual experience I’ve gone through to date.

My only goal is to provide…

Faith-inspired leadership tips for the faith-led solopreneur, coach or consultant.

For the first time since launching my business in 2006, I feel at peace. Mentally, spiritually, emotionally. I can see why God took me through what He did over the past few years. All to lead me to this point.

I explore faith-centered topics on this blog.

If you’re not into that, well, that’s okay. But if you are a person of faith and you crave to understand how to apply ancient wisdom from the Bible to the success of your business (or the business you’re thinking of launching), I can help.

Some People Think I’m Way Cool

It’s good to know that someone other than my mother thinks I do some awesome stuff. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with mom (God bless her), but mom’s perspective on her eldest is a bit skewed. So, it’s awesome that others recognize me and my accomplishments and see what my mom sees. Here are just a few:

• Listed as one of the Top 100 Women in E-commerce by WE Magazine.
• Listed as one of the 21 top Black Social Media Influencers in 2011.

• Named as one of the 101 Inspiring Women Bloggers to Watch in 2010 by WE Magazine for Women.
• Winner of the 2009 Harry Jerome award for excellence in Technology & Innovation.
• Ranked #2 on Profectio’s 2008 Top 10 Most Influential Women in Social Media in Canada.
• Only Canadian named in 2008 as one of the 50 Most Powerful &Influential Women in Social Media by Ron Hudson.
• Host of an annual virtual event called Social Media Telesummitwhich attracts hundreds of attendees from around the world and features some of North America’s top best selling authors and success gurus including Michael Port, Paul Colligan, Andy Wibbels, Pam Slim, Milana Leshinsky and David Meerman Scott.
• In 2007, I authored Podcasting for Profit: A Proven 7 Step Plan to Help Individuals & Businesses Generate Income Through Audio & Video Podcasting, a critically acclaimed book featuring interviews with over 50 podcasters who are making a five, six or seven income using a podcast (oh, and it sold just under 1000 copies in the first 30 days of publication without me leaving my house).
• Lead organizer of the very first Podcamp Toronto in 2007 which attracted just over 300 attendees and $5000 in sponsorship without paying for any advertising.
• Named by Canada’s Word of Mouth expert in 2006 as one of theTop 50 Media & Marketing Bloggers in Canada.
• Ranked #1 in Google for the search term podcasting expert, a position I’ve held since April 2006.
• Was the founding president in 2000 of a professional association called BITePRO that went from 25 to 200 members in just 90 days.
• Worked as a software project manager for a global technology company managing million dollar projects and hundreds of resources in a dozen countries.
• Winner of a young entrepreneurs award for my achievements in technology from the African Canadian Achievement Awardsand Black Enterprise Network.
• Launched sportsfemmes.com in 1998, an online sports magazine that netted $2500 a month in ad sales before the dot com bust.
• My clients have used my social media advice to appear on TV talk shows, win prestigious awards, get invited to speak at high profile events and increase their income.

I list these accolades not to brag (because that’s an un-Canadian thing to do), but to show you that online marketing, virtual events and technology is something that I have been involved in since 1994. Online marketing and virtual events are not a fad to me. I’ve used these tools to help me and my clients achieve many goals.

And Yes, I’m More Than Just a Serious Business Woman

My interests are pretty tame and not so interesting, but here’s what gets me uber excited from time to time:

• Lululemon – The gear, not the activity they were made for. In other words, I love Lululemon because no other athletic apparel company can make women look so dang good while they sweat, but sadly, I’m so not a fan of yoga.
• Star Trek – I don’t care which series (except DS9), but I can watch Star Trek for hours.
• Post Apocalyptic or Apocalyptic films – The end of the world is near (or has come), so who will save us (or revive the species)? I just can’t get enough of these films and no matter how bad (like, The Happening, but definitely not Battlefield Earthbecause that’s, like, the worst movie ever), I’ll buy it, put it on my bookshelf and watch it over and over.
• Speaking French – I couldn’t understand why I’ve been obsessed with learning to speak French (I think I’m at 30% proficiency) until I discovered that my great-great-great grandfather was French. From France. Now I get it. My obsession, not the French language.
• Winter – My favourite season of the year. I was born in a snowstorm, so what do you expect? And I participate in every OUTDOOR winter sport you can name. Except ice fishing (too messy). And cross country skiing (too boring). But I’ll definitely watch it during the Winter Olympics (cross country skiing, not ice fishing and definitely NOT figure skating or curling).
• Gary Larson’s The Far Side – The. Funniest. Comic. Strip. Ever.
• Sewing. Learned the craft in a home education course in high school and have sewed ever since. I only sew dresses (my favorite patterns are Simplicity).
• I’m also an autodidact. It explains why I was able to play the organ (both keyboards and the foot pedals) for a congregation of 300 for 5-years in my early 20s after only studying piano to Grade 2 when I was 8. Also explains why I made my career in technology after graduating with a degree in History.
• I’m a brunette. Hard to tell from my photos, but hold my hair up against something black and you’ll see that my hair is dark brown. Now, you can rest easy knowing my true hair colour