Leanne Preston: And the Wild Child Story

Not many people can claim that a case of head lice changed their world for the better, but for Leanne Preston, an unemployed mum on a single mother’s pension, it would be the turning point in her life. Preston left school early, married young and settled down. She tried to convince herself she was happy with her life, but when her marriage broke down and she fled to a refuge she had to face the daunting reality of raising three children on her own. Leanne is an eternal optimist, however, and a big believer in intuition, and despite having no job and only a few dollars in her pocket she never doubted that things would get better. But even Leanne could never have predicted the turning point in her life. It all began when Leanne’s daughter came home with nits. Leanne was horrified to learn that the treatment contained a poison that could cause illness, even death, and refused to use it on her daughter. With her trademark determination she set about trying to find a natural remedy, and discovered there was scientific proof of the effectiveness of botanical oils. Mixing batches in her kitchen, she came up with a treatment and set up production in a shed. Her company, Wild Child, was born. Today Leanne is the chief executive of a global pharmaceutical company and has proved herself as a businesswoman. And her most recent discovery could even revolutionise the treatment of malaria in the third world. The extraordinary story of how she got to this point - battling personal crises and supposed business experts along the way - is nothing less than inspirational. Not bad for a girl from the bush who left school at 15.