In this candid and sticky episode, award-winning Australian entrepreneur Leonie Dawson and her longtime friend and co-worker Tamara Protassow dive into the messy, magical, and sometimes disastrous topic of hiring friends or family in your business.
With warmth, wit, and brutal honesty, they unpack personal stories, hard-earned lessons, and emotional truths about power dynamics, communication breakdowns, and the rare circumstances where it can actually work.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction: Leonie sets the scene and introduces the question that divides entrepreneurs: should you ever hire your friends or family?
01:00 – Meet Tam: Tam shares her journey as a creativity coach and long-time collaborator in Leonie’s world.
03:00 – How Leonie & Tam met: The fateful tea meetup that led to years of collaboration (and some chaotic planner adventures).
07:00 – The Big Question: “Should you hire friends or family?” Leonie’s immediate and emphatic answer: “Absolutely not.”
09:00 – When it all goes wrong: Leonie shares stories of heartbreak, lost friendships, and the painful lessons that followed.
10:30 – Why it fails: The duo explores misaligned expectations, power dynamics, blurred boundaries, and emotional baggage.
17:00 – Tam’s insider view: How Tam separates roles, keeps boundaries clean, and treats employment as a privilege rather than a power play.
22:00 – How Leonie makes it work now: Clear communication, explicit agreements, and exit plans keep friendships intact.
26:00 – The emotional cost: Why mixing love, money, and work can trigger every wound you’ve ever had.
30:00 – The rare exceptions: Brene Brown and Denise Duffield-Thomas—proof it can work, but only with deep self-awareness and constant effort.
34:00 – Closing reflections: Leonie’s gratitude for the lessons learned and the friendships that survived the fire.
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