Hi, I'm Leia

Professional overthinker. Chronic list-maker. Very enthusiastic recommender of things.

I'm Leia Owen, a marketing and business consultant based in Hudson, Massachusetts. I work with businesses, nonprofits, schools, and community organizations, and I spend a lot of time around the people who make local places interesting. I'm also someone who likes having an answer when a friend asks where to go or what to try.

Leia Local Guide gives me a place to follow that curiosity in my own voice. It's where I can share an idea because it interests me, connect a few stops into a possible afternoon, or pay closer attention to something I might otherwise pass on the way to somewhere else.

Why local guide? To me, being a local guide starts with noticing. It means asking what a place offers, who might enjoy it, and what would help someone feel comfortable walking through the door. It also means being willing to keep learning, even in a town you know well. MetroWest is home base, but local can describe the attention you bring to a place as much as the distance from your house.

A personal collection. This project follows my interests and perspective. It won't include every business or every event, and being absent from the guide isn't a judgment about a place. Some pieces will be based on experiences I've had. Others will explore something I'm considering or offer a researched starting point. Those are different kinds of recommendations, and I'll identify them clearly.

My work and this project. My professional work involves marketing, communications, events, and community connections. That experience informs what I notice, but Leia Local Guide is a personal project with its own voice and purpose. It is separate from Discover Hudson, a downtown initiative I support through my client work. When a feature involves a client, a paid collaboration, a hosted experience, or another relevant relationship, I'll make that context clear.

Send me somewhere. Have a place you think I'd enjoy, a question a guide could answer, or an idea for an outing? Tell me about it. The very specific recommendations are often the most useful.