#58 Lean Out
Lean Out: Laura LeBleu on Surviving the Corporate Machine, Reclaiming Analog, and Going Back to Who You Were at 10
She's a two-time Emmy winner, former NYC theater director, lead singer of an Italian band, voice of a virtual TV character, and a stilt-walking circus ringmaster. Now she co-founded Geezer, the print-only magazine telling the truth about Gen X. Laura LeBleu came to the Fulfillment Project with no filter, pathological honesty, and one of the most useful career philosophies I've heard in years: lean out.
About this episode
What if everything you've been told about climbing the ladder is backwards?
Laura LeBleu has had one of the strangest, most creative resumes you'll ever encounter, and somewhere between San Francisco drag queen musicals, NYC advertising agencies, and Bay Area tech companies, she figured out a quiet truth that's been hiding in plain sight: you can do excellent work without tying your soul to it.
In this conversation we cover Gen X as the "forgotten generation," why print is the new vinyl, the slow death of human-curated discovery (RIP, Blockbuster clerks), what to say to the 19-year-old who's given up because of AI, the lost art of being bored, and the single best piece of career advice I've heard in a long time: lean out, but do the work.
Laura also sings Italian cabaret on the mic. A Fulfillment Project first.
Featured quotes
"You are not the sum of your job description, and you are not the sum of your latest annual review. You're so much more than that."
"I made a conscious decision to lean out, which did not mean I leaned out as far as doing good work. Where I leaned out is where my ego was concerned."
"We're all realizing the empty calories of digital content. We want to touch grass, as the kids say. And the way Gen X is doing it is by picking up a magazine."
"Discovery used to be built in. Now discovery is fed to us, which means it's not really discovery at all."
"By leaning into our humanity, that's the best way to navigate the age of AI."
"I'm in my 50s, I'm starting to feel more like myself than I have in many years."
Chapters
(00:00) Cold open — "You are not the sum of your job description"
(00:37) Meet Laura: Emmys, circus, cabaret, and Geezer Magazine
(02:46) Is Gen X really the forgotten generation?
(04:01) The truth about perimenopause nobody told her
(04:48) Print is the new vinyl
(06:11) Why analog matters more than ever
(07:38) Rebranding AARP in three words
(07:56) Things from the 80s and 90s that deserve a comeback
(14:01) The death of human-curated discovery
(16:32) The hotel in Charlotte with a vinyl librarian
(17:51) Why Gen Z struggles to talk to strangers
(20:01) The centenarian secret: it's not diet, it's social connection
(21:06) From theater kid to circus ringmaster: Laura's wild path
(24:00) Becoming the voice of a virtual TV character at Tech TV
(25:43) Laura sings Italian cabaret (yes, really)
(28:43) How Geezer came to life with Paul Vons
(29:32) Why Gen X may be the first generation skipped over for power
(32:13) Do creatives lose pieces of themselves inside big companies?
(36:39) McKinsey: most people don't find purpose in their work — why?
(40:06) What do you say to the 19-year-old who's given up because of AI?
(44:25) Reading and writing in the age of AI
(47:02) The seven books Laura just bought to reclaim her attention
(49:45) Boredom is a creative superpower
(54:56) The Lean Out manifesto
(1:00:38) Separating your ego from your work
(1:03:48) "Deep in my heart, I'm kind of a 12-year-old boy"
(1:08:29) Going back to who you were at 10
(1:09:00) Where to find Geezer Magazine
About the guest
Laura LeBleu is the co-founder and creative director of Geezer Magazine [https://geezermagazine.com], a print-only magazine telling the truth about Gen X and aging. Before Geezer, she earned two Emmy Awards, directed theater in New York City, fronted an Italian band performing the music of Mina, performed cabaret, voiced the virtual character hosting Tech TV, and toured as a stilt-walking circus ringmaster. She holds a theater degree from New Mexico State University and currently writes thought leadership for a major tech company. She has a 15-year-old son who, upon seeing the first issue of Geezer, declared: "Analog media is fire."
Resources & references mentioned
Geezer Magazine — geezermagazine.com [http://geezermagazine.com]
Geezer on Substack — geezermagazine.substack.com [http://geezermagazine.substack.com]
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg — the book Laura is gently dismantling
Northern Exposure — the Gen X show Laura wants resurrected
Tech TV — where Laura voiced the first network virtual character
Mina — the Italian singer of "Nessuno" (the song Laura sings on the episode)
Connect with Laura
Geezer Magazine: geezermagazine.com [http://geezermagazine.com]
Geezer on Substack: geezermagazine.substack.com [http://geezermagazine.substack.com]
Connect with the Fulfillment Project
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— Andy
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