for so long i told myself i wasn't a writer..
maybe i loved writing so much i was scared to admit how much it meant to me? slowly i began to realize how much meaning i found through writing.
you know what else I've found? connection with YOU
in brave, vulnerable moments i’ve shared real life with you and you’ve encouraged me and shared your story, too. through my blog and social media we’ve built a community filled with hope and love. it’s truly amazing and beautiful.
about the book.
my book is called brave love. that title fits so perfectly with my journey—a journey of figuring out what it means to love bravely, a journey of realizing there is space for me to be me. it’s full of tender, beautiful moments and broken, desperate moments and silly, crazy moments. it’s honest and real and i hope your heart will resonate with it.
page by page i share about the day david was born and we found out he had a severe disability. then matthias joined our family and everything was turned upside down in unexpected ways. i talk about how our jewelry business grew from stringing beads at our kitchen table to employing hundreds of people. the hardest thing I wrote about was the breakdown and rebuilding of our marriage. this book is filled with my heart and soul. i believe it’s when we share ourselves honestly that we connect most deeply.
I’m so thankful for the path that Lisa Leonard has walked, from perfection and performance toward connection and grace, and I’m thankful as well for her vulnerability and creative storytelling. Her journey is one that will resound with so many women.
SHAUNA NIEQUIST
{New York Times bestselling author of Present Over Perfect}
I’ve been inspired by Lisa Leonard both online and off for years, and reading her story only deepened my respect for the way she does marriage, parenthood, and business. I cried three times while reading Brave Love.
LAURA TREMAINE
{blogger and podcaster}
The powerfully vulnerable voice in which Lisa Leonard pours her story onto each page is disarming and poetic. This book will dig out all your insecurities and doubts, and through each poem and life lesson, it will remind you of your wholeness, your value, your beauty. An inspiration to any mom, business owner, partner, sister, or friend, Brave Love will take you on a beautifully introspective journey and leave a mark of gratitude and abundance in your heart.
JESSICA HONEGGER
{founder and co-CEO of Noonday Collection and author of Imperfect Courage}
With soulful vulnerability, Lisa Leonard shares her story in Brave Love. Through Lisa’s prose and storytelling, I was immediately captivated by her journey and saw pieces of my own story. You will find yourself coming face-to-face with the doubts and questions you hold, as well as with the bright freedom we all seek. Lisa’s words will make you feel understood and will bring hope that you will come to know more deeply the freedom and love that God has for each of us.
BRI MCKOY
{author of Come and Eat}
Brave Love is inspiring and vulnerable, and it will resonate with every mom, in whatever season of life. I devoured it. Lisa Leonard pulls back the curtain on her life, writing about the hard work of growing a multimillion-dollar business, the not-so-pretty parts of her marriage, and the challenges of raising a child with special needs. In addition to sharing the hardships she’s walked through, her story offers readers the wisdom, grace, and joy she’s found on the journey.
JESSICA TURNER
{bestselling author of Stretched Too Thin and The Fringe Hours}
A must-read! Brave Love is gripping, honest, and uplifting. Lisa Leonard’s journey is unlike most, yet incredibly relatable as she weaves a story that may initially appear to be a tragedy into an undeniable triumph that will touch and inspire the hearts of many.
MEG APPERSON
{blogger at Four Fine Lives}
I’ve long been a fan of Lisa Leonard Designs and her gorgeous jewelry. Along comes this shimmering jewel to add to her collection: Brave Love. Lisa does with words what she does with her jewelry. She makes you feel beautiful when all you had felt before was “not enough.” Each page stirred something deep in me—a woman who suffers from the chronic condition of “not-enoughness.” Brave Love is at once gentle and powerful, and I know it will awaken something within you too.
JENNIFER DUKES LEE
{author of It’s All Under Control and The Happiness Dare}
You were written with love, composing body and soul. Each verse fits together. You are complete; you are whole. Brave Love is the perfect read to spur you on toward being your bravest, truest self. Lisa Leonard’s story about embracing her inmost desires and dreams and letting go of the idea of “perfection” will encourage you that being fully you not only matters but will lead you toward something more whole and beautiful than you could ever imagine for yourself.
STACIE BLOOMFIELD
{founder of Gingiber}
The lessons Lisa Leonard shares from her own life journey are important, meaningful, and inspiring—giving ourselves permission to be who we really are, embracing our individual needs in the midst of family and work demands and the mess of everyday life, and speaking our own truth even when it’s hard. The ways she is owning her story resonated with me on so many levels as a business owner, parent, wife, and friend. Definitely recommended as inspiration to reconnect with ourselves.
ALI EDWARDS
{storytelling advocate and business owner at aliedwards.com}
Lisa Leonard’s honest words about loving her family and herself are inspiring. Her vulnerability is a breath of fresh air. She courageously shares her struggles in motherhood, marriage, and career in a way that will encourage others to be brave in their lives too. Her story is one of finding her voice to speak up for what she needed and to believe she is worthy of love.
MEG DUERKSEN
{blogger at Whatever}
Lisa Leonard teaches us that brave love shows up. And she certainly showed up for us in this page-turning memoir. Because of her vulnerability, her graceful truth-telling, and her imperfect courage, I was able to find my own story and truth in her words. Thank you for reminding me that I am not alone on this journey to become brave love.
ASHLEY STOCK
{blogger at Little Miss Momma}
This book will change the way you give yourself grace as you—and as a mother, a wife, a sister, and a friend. It will remind you that you can show up for you while bravely loving the people who mean the most to you.
DANIELLE SMITH
{founder of PrettyExtraordinary.com}
Love others, love yourself—through Lisa Leonard’s brave truth-telling of her own imperfect journey, she will empower you to see that you too are loved, valued, and worthy.
KRISTI QUILL
{owner/artist at Barn Owl Primitives}
Lisa Leonard has a gift for walking people through both her darkest and most hopeful moments with true heart and vulnerability. Her story is one worth reading and sharing with everyone you know.
ALLISON CZARNECKI
{founder and editor of Petit Elefant, a lifestyle blog}
Lisa Leonard is a shining example of someone who bravely steps into the places God is leading her—and learning more about herself, humanity, and God by doing so. I’m so thankful she bravely took the steps needed to write this book so that all of us have an opportunity to get a glimpse into her life, and in so doing we can also choose to be brave.
HEATHER AVIS
{author of The Lucky Few}