Emily M Austen

Emily M Austen is an accomplished entrepreneur, business leader, and mental health speaker, best known as the Founder and CEO of EMERGE, the award-winning PR agency that has delivered impactful campaigns for brands including Abercrombie & Fitch, Huel and Spanx. With more than a decade of experience in communications and brand strategy, Emily has become widely respected for her honest conversations around ambition, burnout and sustainable success. Today, she is hired by organisations worldwide to speak on mental health, resilience and redefining achievement in modern working culture, helping audiences challenge the pressures of hustle culture while prioritising wellbeing and long-term performance.

After graduating from the University of Manchester with a BA Hons in Criminology and Criminal Law, Emily launched EMERGE at just 22 years old from her kitchen table. As CEO, she built the agency into a leading name in PR by securing high-profile editorial coverage and developing campaigns that generated both brand awareness and commercial growth. Alongside her entrepreneurial success, Emily became increasingly passionate about the relationship between productivity and mental wellbeing, leading her to develop the SMARTER Method, a framework designed to help individuals achieve more without sacrificing their mental health. Her career has since evolved beyond PR into keynote speaking, leadership development and advocacy around sustainable working practices.

Emily is also the author of the Amazon bestselling book ‘SMARTER: 10 Lessons for a More Productive & Less-Stressed Life’, which has sold tens of thousands of copies internationally and been translated into multiple languages. She serves as a Strategic PR Advisor to UN Women UK, supporting campaigns focused on gender equality and domestic violence awareness. In addition, Emily hosts The Smarter Podcast, interviewing influential figures including Dylan Lauren, Bobbi Brown and Amanda Baldwin. Her expertise has also seen her invited to guest lecture at Harvard University, while further strengthening her business credentials through a Diploma in Venture Finance from Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.

As a mental health speaker, Emily is particularly valued for her ability to combine personal honesty with practical business insight. Her speeches explore the psychological impact of overwork, the dangers of tying identity solely to achievement and the importance of building sustainable success without burnout. Drawing from her own entrepreneurial journey, Emily delivers research-driven and highly relatable talks on resilience, reinvention, female leadership and the evolution of ambition. Audiences connect with her refreshing perspective on balancing performance with wellbeing, making her a powerful voice for organisations seeking to support healthier workplace cultures and more meaningful definitions of success.