Community
18 May, 2022
Local Author Empowers Women To Overcome Tragedy
JULATTEN resident and mum of four Crystal Leonardi was hit with the most devastating news in 2020 when her two-year-old Sebastian was diagnosed with brain cancer.
As her family spent a whole year in Brisbane for Sebastian’s surgery and treatment, Crystal turned to journaling as an outlet for her pain, concerns, and fears.
The result of this journaling was Boy of Steel, published in September 2021. The book has been successful, and it has been sold worldwide.
“I took to journaling during that year to record all of the events and emotions we were going through,” Crystal said.
“And when we got home, I started writing, and before I knew it, Boy of Steel was written.”
Crystal said Boy of Steel was not only selling well, but it had also launched her into motivational speaking.
“It has opened up many doors for me in other areas too,” she said.
“This year, I’ve done more motivational speaking relating to me as a mother and what we went through with my son.”
For Crystal, it’s not only about sharing her testimony but also about raising awareness of childhood cancer.
“Once I did my first gig, I found it was extremely empowering, and it came quite easily, and it’s an honour to share my story and bring awareness not just about what we went through but childhood cancer and a lot of charities that do really good things for these kids,” she said.
As she works on her following two books, Crystal has been booked to be a motivational speaker on ELEVATE Cairns hosted by Total Coaching Academy Australia on Saturday, May 14.
“I’m very excited about ELEVATE because it’s all about women in the corporate scene who want to find balance in their life,” Crystal said.
“I see this as an opportunity not just to share my story but also to encourage women not to let setbacks and adversity stop them from fulfilling any dreams they may have and becoming successful.
“And I believe that even through tragedy or adversity, we can use the lessons we learn to better ourselves, or help others or become more resilient in the future.”
Beyond motivational speaking, Crystal’s passion is writing, and she has two publications coming later in the year. The first one it’s a children’s book called My Brother Sebastian.
“It’s written from the perspective of a child whose brother or sister has cancer,” Crystal said.
“I want this to be a tool for children and parents to talk about really difficult topics like childhood cancer without fear and from a very open perspective.
“My daughters were really young when my son got diagnosed, and it was hard to know how much to tell them, in how much detail and when it was a good time.”
The second one, which is in the editing stage, will be a self-publishing handbook to help authors become self-published authors.
FNQ residents have yet a lot to see and hear from this young mum and author and her powerful message.
For more information on Crystal’s projects, visit, https://www.crystalleonardi.com/
