Louise Ridlen: Leaders Bring The Weather

Leaders Bring the Weather

Most businesses don’t fail because of strategy.
They fail because of the person at the top.

In this episode, Louise Ridlen explains what actually breaks when a business grows and why most founders never see it coming.

She’s spent 30+ years in tech and over seven years building Peppermint IT. But this is not an IT episode. It’s a leadership one.

We talk about why people are scared of technology and why fear, not skill, is the real bottleneck. Why clicking the button is often the difference between progress and stagnation. And how “I’m not a tech person” becomes a lifelong excuse that quietly limits capable people.

Louise breaks down the hardest shift founders face when they stop working solo and start building a team. The income drop no one warns you about. The frustration of caring more than your staff ever will. The moment you realise that expecting others to think like you is the fastest way to burn out.

One idea keeps coming back throughout the conversation.
Leaders bring the weather.

If you walk in stressed, reactive, or uncertain, that becomes the environment your team operates in. If you bring clarity and belief, everything changes.

We also talk about systems, AI, and automation, but without the hype. Why you can’t automate chaos. Why AI doesn’t fix broken workflows. And why most businesses are trying to scale before they’ve ever written down how work actually flows from start to finish.

There’s also a personal side to this conversation. Louise shares where her urgency comes from. Why she refuses to stay miserable. And how optimism is something you practise, not something you’re born with.

If you’re building a business, leading a team, or wondering why things feel harder than they should, this episode will hit.
Not because it’s clever.
Because it’s true.


About the guest

Louise Ridlen is the founder of Peppermint IT, a female-led managed IT services business focused on helping organisations feel confident with technology rather than overwhelmed by it. With over 30 years in the industry, Louise works closely with business owners to build clear systems, practical workflows, and solid tech foundations that support how people actually work.



Peppermint IT: https://peppermint-it.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-ridlen-...