In partnership with
Tuesday crew - a very warm welcome back to The Leanne Weeky!
I see you in the comments, and before we get going, last week I mentioned bra inserts for uneven breast sizes following a lumpectomy or general unevenness. This is where I got mine - Evenly. Hope that helps x
This week I traveled up North to Lincolnshire with Ben and my best mates as we said our goodbyes to our beautiful friend, Paul. The service was incredibly hard, yet the church was filled with the most amount of love I’ve ever felt, and I’ll cherish that feeling always. I’m reminded to lead with as much love and kindness as possible - just like Paul did. His magic was making everyone feel seen, valued and like they were the only person in the room. I will do my best to always do the same.
I finished the week with some much needed lightness with my Halloween class at Peloton. I dressed as a Mummy - see what I did there, ha! I like to give 100% to any costume, pregnant or not and so the metres and metres of gauze were well worth it! Make sure you take the class for some spooky fun, it really is one of my favourites of the year.
Issue 11 has us unpacking THE POWER AND PRESSURE OF REINVENTION, then straight into closing out our Breast Cancer Awareness Month series with MOVEMENT and COMMUNITY. I’ll be keeping it real at the end with MAKING A HOME, MAKING A BABY and as always, I’ll always leave you with The List Of Joy and LTK faves.
Enjoy this moment for you. Let's begin….
The Power & Pressure Of Reinvention…
‘I’m allowed to evolve slowly and in private. I don’t owe anyone a new era on a deadline.’
There have been seasons where I felt the pull to announce a ‘new me’, but the truth is, my most important reinventions have been quiet - a boundary I finally kept, a routine I rebuilt after illness, a softer pace I chose (and still choose) when the world wanted speed. No big reveal, no rebrand, just alignment. That kind of reinvention doesn’t photograph well, but it changed my life.
Pressure vs Power (quick check):
Pressure feels: urgent, image-driven, comparison-fuelled, expensive in energy.
Power feels: grounded, values-led, sustainable, and like your insides match your outside.
WHEN REINVENTION FEELS LIKE PRESSURE…
The pressure to reinvent usually creeps in quietly. It’s the ‘what’s next?’ after an achievement, the whispers that standing still means falling behind. We see others transforming online - new jobs, cities, looks, partners, and we start to wonder if staying the same makes us boring. Social media has turned reinvention into performance art: So many curated captions about ‘new eras’ (soft girl, healing, or glow up. The list goes on...) It’s the pace and visibility of it all that has really changed - the world now watches every pivot in real time, and somewhere along the line, reinvention became a metric of worth, yet we rarely see what it costs in time, energy and peace.
For women, it often hides a deeper demand: be better, smaller, softer, stronger, more likeable. That’s not empowerment; it’s exhaustion dressed up as evolution. We’re praised for being ‘resilient,’ but that often means bouncing back instantly - post-breakup, post-baby, post-diagnosis, post-anything. It’s resilience theatre.
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is not reinvent - resist the urge to repackage yourself and instead stay grounded in your current chapter, however imperfect or unpolished it feels. Growth doesn’t always need to look new. It can look like rest, contentment, or simply letting your roots deepen where you already are. As women, we often feel guilty for a root season (focusing on maintenance or healing), but naming it helps normalise it (and trust me, it IS normal). Context matters - caregiving, health, or public work all shape what evolution looks like. If reinvention becomes pressure, it whispers: ‘Who I am now isn’t enough until it’s packaged into something shinier.’ That’s not growth, that’s a treadmill, and it’s exhausting.
WHEN REINVENTION FEELS LIKE POWER…
‘Reinvention, when it comes from alignment rather than approval, is one of the most powerful things a woman can do.’
Here’s the flip side - reinvention, when it comes from alignment rather than approval, is one of the most powerful things a woman can do. It’s not about optics, but truth. I’ve changed, and I’m ready to honour that.
True reinvention isn’t a reaction; it’s a reclamation - the moment you realise something no longer fits and decide to act. It’s choosing your next chapter before someone else writes it, changing not because you dislike who you were, but because you’ve outgrown her. It’s releasing versions of yourself built for survival and creating space for who you are now.
Think of the woman who bravely starts again after divorce, changes careers at 50, cuts her hair after years of saying she wants to, or steps back from hustle culture to protect her peace. Reinvention done with intention is an act of self-respect - it’s you listening to your life and saying, this version of me needs more.
Women like Madonna, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, or Gwyneth Paltrow have all reinvented publicly, and despite your personal views on them, what resonates isn’t the aesthetics - it’s the ownership. Reinvention as self-expression, not self-escape.
So, here’s a ‘Gentle 30-Day Reinvention Pilot’ (if you are wanting to, but don’t know how to start):
Choose ONE lever: a boundary, habit, routine, or look.
Define what success feels like: calmer mornings, less resentment, more focus.
Run it QUIETLY for 30 days: no grand reveal needed.
Then review: keep it, tweak it, or bin it. Private first, public if it sticks.
Ultimately, reinvention is a mirror. Sometimes it reflects who you’ve become, other times it asks if you’re ready to become more. The power lies in knowing when to rebuild and when to rest in what already is. True reinvention comes from alignment, not anxiety. You don’t owe the world a new version of yourself every season, only honesty about where you are and what you need.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month - The Final Week…
We’re wrapping this month with two themes that sit right at the heart of recovery, and life, really: movement and community.
MOVEMENT: RECLAIMING YOUR BODY…
‘Your body is not your enemy. It’s your ally. It’s carried you through every hard thing you’ve survived.’
Movement after, or even during cancer treatment looks and feels completely different. It’s layered: physical, emotional, and mental. For many of us, it’s no longer about performance; it’s about challenging the fatigue and rebuilding trust. Your body’s been through so much, and you’ve had to surrender control to medicine, schedules, and side effects. So when you start moving again, on your own terms, it becomes something far more powerful than exercise. It’s a reclamation: this body is still yours.
When I first eased back into exercise, it wasn’t about sweat, structure, or PBs; it was about permission. Permission to move in ways that felt kind, not punishing. To go slow. To rest without guilt. There’s a quiet but powerful shift when movement stops being something we do to our body and becomes something we do for it.
During treatment, I continued to teach some of my Peloton classes. Not to be a hero, and definitely not to make anyone feel inadequate, but to keep myself sane. Movement was the best way I knew to combat ‘chemo fatigue.’ It helped me feel like me, gave me purpose, and created moments of connection that lifted my spirits. In reality, it was just 1-3 hours a week. I’d save up my energy for those classes, then rest deeply afterwards. My schedule meant I had the first few days post-chemo to recover, and then I’d show up, give what I could, and retreat again.
Alongside that, I worked with my brilliant personal trainer Luke, who’s known me since 2018 and treated me with such care through my ups and downs. We stripped everything back, took things week by week, and cancelled sessions often, but staying lightly consistent made me feel anchored. I also worked with a physio for cording (axillary web syndrome), which can limit arm movement after lymph node surgery. It’s not something that was ever discussed enough, so I had to do my own research to rebuild mobility safely. The first time I lifted my left arm above my head post-surgery, I cried, it felt like a victory. It had been debilitating having such a lack of movement.
Walking became another quiet form of therapy (as much as it could be at the time with a new puppy). It grounded me and gave me space to process.
Something few people talk about is the loss of touch during treatment. For months, it felt like nobody could or would touch me without blue surgical gloves. No real simple human contact beyond medical necessity. It’s an isolating feeling that lingers longer than you expect. Reclaiming movement helped me reconnect with my body again, not just physically, but emotionally.
If you’re navigating treatment or recovery, start with compassion. Start small. A five-minute walk counts. Gentle stretching counts. Breathwork counts. It’s not about intensity; it’s about intention. Some days your ‘workout’ is showing up to treatment. Other days it’s simply getting out of bed. Both are acts of strength. It’s strange to look at your body and see it as both unfamiliar and miraculous. Some days you’ll feel strong and steady, others fragile and unsure, and that’s okay. The goal isn’t to rush back to who you were before; it’s to meet who you are now.
Movement is also an emotional release. It shifts fear, grief, and everything unspoken that lives in the body long after treatment ends. It reconnects the mind, heart, and muscle memory. The body keeps the score, but it also holds the healing. If you’re in this stage, know there’s no ‘right way.’ You don’t need to perform resilience. You’re already strong. Every step, stretch, and breath is a quiet act of defiance, and grace.
COMMUNITY: WHY WE HEAL BETTER TOGETHER
‘Community heals what medicine can’t. It reminds you that you were never meant to go through it alone.’
If treatment teaches you anything, it’s that you cannot do it alone. You can try (many of us do), but at some point, you realise healing isn’t meant to be a solo act.
Community, in all its forms, becomes the net that catches you. It’s your people - the ones who show up, check in, and hold space without needing to be asked. It’s your medical team, your nurses, your oncologist, your family, your friends. The ones who make you laugh on a chemo day or sit with you in silence when words won’t do. Sometimes it’s the woman in the waiting room who meets your eyes and nods, no words exchanged, but somehow, she gets it.
I think my segment on SUPPORT last week definitely ties in well with COMMUNITY too, so give it another read when the time is right. From my Mum and Ben, to my cancer nurse and oncologist. That’s a community within itself. You need to feel seen, heard, and believed. Treatment is one of the most vulnerable experiences you can go through; you deserve people who meet that with care and empathy.
I’ve mentioned Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel this month, but Future Dreams who focus on deep, connection-driven community work and safe spaces, and Make 2nds Counts who highlight that community support is vital at every stage, including later-stage diagnoses are both incredible communities outside of hospitals doing life-changing work.
Then there’s the quieter side of community - the trusted information, the conversations with a therapist, the survivor network that understands without explanation. Support looks different for everyone, but it all matters.
My people, my care team, and the women who’d walked this road before me carried me through the moments I couldn’t carry myself, and it’s why I believe in paying it forward as much as I can. Checking in on someone starting treatment, donating, running a marathon for charity, or sharing your story when you’re ready. Someone, somewhere, will need those words. Community heals what medicine can’t. We heal better when we heal together.
‘Your body isn’t the same as before. It’s wiser. It knows what survival feels like. And now, every move you make is a love letter back to it.’
As we wrap up this month’s focus, I just want to say a heartfelt Thank You. Writing about these topics - hair, scars, support, movement, and everything in between, has reminded me how strong, complex, and deeply connected we are as women. Whether these words have felt personal to you or simply helped you understand someone else’s experience a little better, I hope they’ve offered something real. The truth is, Breast Cancer Awareness doesn’t end with October. The awareness, the conversations, the compassion, that’s what carries on.
If this series has resonated, share it with someone who might need it. That’s how this space grows - through care, empathy, and connection.
Speaking of rebuilding and support, there’s been a fair bit of that happening at home too - just in a slightly more literal sense. Cue: renos, nesting, and baby prep.
Making A Home, Making A Baby…
1. Still rubbish at documenting the reno in real time.
The intention is always there… the execution? Not so much. Turns out neurotic nesting and endless decision-making don’t exactly pair well with daily Instagram updates.
2. It’s ‘just a small project,’ I said.
Yet somehow, we’ve got painters, joiners, upholstery cleaners, AV guys, silicone guys (who knew that was even a job?!), floor cleaners, and a window drama currently holding up the nursery. Once that’s all done and dusted, I think we’ll officially feel like we’ve made it. At this point, Ben and I just keep looking at each other saying, “We’re nearly there” - but nearly there currently feels like walking to Australia.
3. Bold paint choices, bold emotions.
We’ve gone all in on colour, and honestly? I’m obsessed. Despite the chaos and the constant ‘will it be done in time?’ panic (we are single digit weeks away, friends), the newborn bubble is going to be cosy and colourful. The best blue ever if you’re looking - Farrow & Ball Ultra Marine Blue (an archive shade, and SO FAB). Once this is finished, no more renos for a while. And I mean it.
4. NCT update!
This week was first aid, so no poonami chat (a shame, honestly), but lots of baby CPR and ‘what to do if…’ moments. Ben and I are planning a mini first aid course on our own too, not out of fear, but because knowledge is power… and calm.
5. Networking, but make it awkward.
Still not sure how to small talk when everyone’s clutching a plastic doll we named Jimmy, but give it a few months and I think we’ll all lean into the friendships properly once the babies arrive. I know how valuable these friendships can be, but at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday night, I don’t think any of us are at our best.
6. And lastly, no, the blue walls aren’t a clue!
For the record, the paint colour has nothing to do with the baby’s sex. We haven’t found out if we’re having a boy or girl, and have never had any preference other than a smooth delivery, and healthy baby. All we know is we’re all waiting for the best festive surprise ever!
From one list to another, it feels like the perfect time to end on something even lighter. Here’s what’s been bringing me joy this week…
List Of Joy…
🎭 SEEING: For my NYC readers and in honour of my beautiful friend Paul who choreographed this incredible show during his final chapter - Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet at MainStage At New York City Center Nov 14-16th. Tickets on sale now. Go and see it, it’s magic.
🎧 LISTENING: Begin Again With Davina McCall. Every episode has such depth and knowledge for women of all ages.
📺 WATCHING: Nobody Wants This on Netflix. Crashed Season 2, just as I did with Season 1. LOVED IT, never want it to end!
LTK Of The Week…
TONY BIANCO NAPPA BOOTS - I bought my first pair last winter, and I just started wearing them again. Mine are in Chocolate and I can’t get enough of them.
NOBODYS CHILD - grey scoop knitted neck midi dress - SO comfy and love the neckline. Plus, there’s a discount online! Go!
CLUB L AMOUR DRESS - Black high neck dress with cape sleeve detail. I wore this dress last week. It is a good ‘event’ dress and this one isn’t maternity but is bump friendly. Great website in general for dresses that don’t break the bank.
THE SKINNY CONFIDENTIAL HOT MESS ICE ROLLER - I’ve been influenced! Too many people say they take it everywhere and love it. I’ve ordered mine, so let's see!
VICTORIA BECKHAM BEAUTY - eyeliner in COCOA. In my opinion, it’s definitely her best product and so many shades to choose from. I bought mine and got an alert saying 264 people had bought the same one that day!
BINIBAMBA - shearling stroller liner - I have been waiting a long time to indulge in this brand. THE CUTEST!!
HM BALACLAVA - How do you keep warm and still look fab?! With this balaclava, that’s how! Can’t wait to wear mine!
GYM ORGANISER - We had a corner of gym ‘bits’ that just couldn’t find a home. This organiser has just got rid of the problem. Doesn’t look offensive and is on wheels, so can easily be wheeled around should you need to buy yourself some space when working out.
So that’s a wrap on Issue 11 - Thank You, as always, for reading, sharing, and showing up here every week. It means more than you know. Don’t forget, it’s the last few days of the Michael Van Clarke discount - LEANNE20 gives 20% off all products online (excluding any discounted sets) for the month of October.
P.S. If something in today’s issue or across this month has made you pause, smile, or feel seen, send it on to someone who might need it too. That’s how this space grows - gently, through connection and conversation. See you in your inboxes next Tuesday, and there may be a little gift from me to you! x
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