Author and ‘lean’ expert Michelle Leong has joined forces with a new business partner, award-winning marketing expert Debbie Gilbert to create ‘leaner’ living app to help users engineer a better, healthier and happier life.
Since the publication of her book “Being Lean: achieve a better quality of life at home, in health, travelling and at work”, Michelle, who lives in London, set out to create a platform to make lean living accessible to those who need it.
“It’s been a long-held dream to be able to bring the ‘lean’ methodology into someone’s personal life,” said Michelle. “I wanted to create a membership club where people could access behaviour specific expertise. This all changed when I approached Debbie.”
Debbie Gilbert, multi-award winning businesswoman, has been supporting fellow entrepreneurs through her marketing, awards and networking businesses for 30 years. One of her networking companies is Businesswomen UnLtd, and she met Michelle at one of her meetings in 2023.
“From our very first conversation, I was struck by Michelle’s passion for lean living and her genuine commitment to helping people create leaner, more intentional lifestyles,” said Debbie. “When Michelle mentioned her membership-based system, I challenged her to think bigger and channel her passion into something more future-focused.”
This is where the idea of a Leanier app come into being.
The Leanier app is a ‘behaviour engineering app’, believed to be the first of its kind globally, which learns a user’s behaviour and suggest ways to be more efficient, save time, reduce waste and boost happiness. Supporting people in the goal to do less, better and all based on the ‘lean’ principles which are well known in manufacturing and construction sectors.
“I came back to Debbie and asked her if she would like to collaborate and partner with me on the Leanier app,” said Michelle. “Debbie was the perfect person to support me bringing this idea to life and it felt like a natural step.
“When you have an idea and you find a business partner the fit has to be right, and that’s a hard fit to find. Working with someone who is as driven as you is a blessing.”
For Debbie, partnering in Michelle’s project was not spur-of-the-moment, it was a considered business decision.
“The Leanier app resonates with me because I strongly believe we all need to be more conscious of how our habits affect our day-to-day lives and the planet,” said Debbie. “So many businesses, and frankly people, talk about sustainability but few do anything meaningful. There is a lot of lip service and not a lot of action. Sometimes that’s because people don’t know what to do or they don’t understand that every small change can have a big impact.”
This Leanier app provides practical and achievable change, helping people build more sustainable habits in a realistic and supportive way.
“Leanier isn’t just a product, it’s a philosophy I’ve lived for 20 years. This partnership doesn’t just make Leanier marketable, it makes it possible!” concluded Michelle.
With Michelle’s lean expertise and Debbie’s strength in marketing, this dynamic businesswoman duo are creating an app which puts the lean philosophy into the hands of people who need it. The app should be fully launched in the Spring this year. To find out more or to apply as a beta-tester visit https://www.leanier.app/