http://www.kainnnekatownsend.com/

Break Your Burnout Cycle For Good, London (2026)

07/09/2026

We spend a lot of time talking about what needs to be achieved before the end of the year.

Targets. Projects. Deadlines. Deliverables.

But there’s another question worth asking as we head into the final stretch:
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?

Because sustainable performance isn’t just about delivering the result. The conditions we create along the way matter too.

A thought for anyone heading back into work this week.

EmployeeWellbeing

03/08/2026

𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻.

On Friday, I spent the day connecting with leaders and having conversations that have stayed with me ever since.

One, in particular, was with a fellow colleague who also works in burnout prevention.

We found ourselves talking about seasons.

How often we misunderstand the season we’re in.

Sometimes we think we should be pushing harder, when actually we’re meant to be planting.

Sometimes we’re frustrated because nothing seems to be happening, when in reality we’re in a season of watering.

Sometimes life calls us to prune.

None of those seasons look particularly impressive from the outside.

A seed spends a long time hidden beneath the soil.

Nobody sees it growing.

Nobody congratulates the roots.

Yet without them, there is nothing to sustain the bloom.

It made me wonder how many of us mistake quiet seasons for unproductive ones.

If you feel hidden right now...
If it feels like everyone else is moving ahead while you’re quietly doing the work...

Keep learning.
Keep resting.
Keep watering what matters.

𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻.

𝗪𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁.
growthmindset

23/06/2026

One of the reflections that stayed with me from the Black Business Forum last weekend, came from a fire side chat conversation with Dame Kelly Holmes.

We often talk about goals, ambition and success.

What struck me was a much simpler reminder:

Sometimes we can become so focused on achieving the thing we’ve set out to do that we forget to take care of ourselves along the way.

For someone who achieved at the highest level in sport, it was a powerful reminder that we are people first.

Not just business owners.
Not just professionals.
Not just leaders.

People.

The irony is that many of us know how to keep going through pressure.

The harder skill is recognising when we need to pause, recover and reconnect with ourselves.

A question I’ve been sitting with since then:

Who are you outside of your work?

Because how we answer that question matters more than we often realise.

25/05/2026

And that’s a wrap for May. 🌿

This month has been full in the best way. Leadership retreats. Resilience workshops. Honest conversations with leaders trying to navigate pressure, performance, uncertainty, and change without losing themselves or their teams in the process.

One theme kept surfacing again and again:
We cannot only measure success by the outcome.
We also have to pay attention to the cost of how we got there.

Because high performance delivered through chronic depletion is not sustainable leadership.
The leaders leaning into this work are not trying to avoid challenge or ambition. Quite the opposite.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵?

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘶𝘵?

Especially now, when the pace of work, ai, technology, and change keeps accelerating.

Our bodies and minds are still part of the equation, whether organisations acknowledge that or not.
A full month. And a birthday somewhere in the middle of it all. 🌿

FutureOfWork
WorkplaceWellbeing

24/04/2026

𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆.

I work with leaders and organisations as a resilience and burnout consultant. PulseCheck™ grew directly out of that work. Leaders kept telling me they could see something was wrong but did not know how to respond.

So I built them a tool. Something practical they could take into their everyday leadership. To help them spot the early signs of strain and chronic stress and have the conversations that matter before pressure tips into something harder to recover from.

Yesterday we ran a live session with senior leaders in London. This is what one leader in the room had to say:

“It really is very good, and I think a super tool for organisations. In these times of accelerated pace and over consumption in a digital sense, opportunities to give our brains space is so crucial. It’s human and it’s good for business too.”

That is exactly why this work exists.

We have a small invite-only roundtable in London this May. Limited spaces. If you lead a team and this resonates, send me a message.

LeadingWithIntention PeopleAndPerformance UKLeaders

02/04/2026

This week I had the privilege of speaking at Transport for London’s International Women’s Day event.
The theme was Rights. Justice. Action.
And the energy in the room matched it.

One moment that stayed with me — when I asked how they’d describe the current pace of change. Among many answers: regressive.

It landed heavily. Because for a lot of people in that room, it’s true.
In that kind of climate, I think about what it takes to actually keep going. Not just survive the pressure, but stay connected to what matters.

That’s what I shared — a simple check-in I use with leaders called CLEAR:
Clarity — what actually matters right now?
Load — what are we carrying versus what’s expected?
Energy — where is it high, and where is it stretched?
Acknowledgement — what progress is being seen?
Risk — what isn’t being said?

Five questions. Not a framework for a meeting room. Just a way to stay honest with yourself and your team.
To everyone who showed up, spoke up, and held space yesterday — thank you. These conversations matter.

And if you’re leading people through pressure right now, the last question is worth sitting with:
What isn’t being said — but is already shaping how your team shows up?

MentalHealth TeamWellbeing highperformance

28/03/2026

𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵.

For some teams, that’s already in the calendar.

For others, it’s just a useful reminder — especially right now.

A lot of organisations have just come through 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.

Deadlines met. Targets hit. Delivery done.

But what often gets missed is what happens next.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿.

And when that doesn’t happen, the pressure doesn’t go away — it carries forward into the next phase.
Over time, that starts to affect energy, focus, and how people show up day to day.

So throughout April, I’ll be running a small number of practical sessions designed to support teams and leaders at exactly this point.

For teams and employee groups, I run sessions like 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗪, which focus on:

• getting clear on what really matters

• reducing overwhelm and mental clutter

• making better use of support around you

• building simple, sustainable habits

For leaders, I run sessions on 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 & 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, focused on:

• staying clear and steady under pressure

• supporting teams without taking on too much yourself

• recognising when recovery is needed and creating space for it

These work well as team sessions, employee network events, or lunchtime talks.

They’re practical, supportive, and designed to be immediately useful — without adding more pressure.

If you’re thinking about how to support your people this April (or even if you hadn’t planned to), feel free to message me and I can share more.

20/03/2026

𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. 🎤

Last weekend, I had the privilege of contributing to the She Starts / Enterprising Women programme at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.

Thank you to Tahani Anne Jabado and Hanadi Jabado DL, the lead organisers behind this remarkable initiative, for inviting me to lead a masterclass on confidence in pitching as part of this intensive 2.5-day entrepreneurship sprint.

What stood out most was not just the quality of the ideas, but the courage behind them.

In less than a few days, these women moved from idea… to team… to pitch. Across industries too. From women’s health to digital connection, to reimagining how we experience everyday services.

But beyond the ideas, it was the willingness to speak. To share something not yet fully formed. To stand up and say, “this is what I’m building.”

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.
𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝘁. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆.

The session explored how to show up with clarity, conviction and presence when it matters most. It’s work that sits at the heart of what I do through the social impact arm of RISE by KCL, and it felt especially meaningful in this setting.

To every woman I met this weekend: you don’t need to wait until your idea is perfect. You just need to start and then own the room when you do.

As someone who works in resilience and burnout prevention, I see this as more than a pitching skill. It is a leadership skill. The ability to trust your voice early. To take action before everything feels ready. To hold your ground in moments that matter.

I left inspired by what this next generation of female founders are building, and who they are becoming in the process.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵, 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿:
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰.
𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗹𝘆.

#

Cambridge

06/02/2026

I had the pleasure of attending AllBright everywoman Connect’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 event earlier this week, and I left feeling full.
Full of connection. Full of community. And honestly, wanting more.

In conversation, Jackie G Michaels, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁, reminded us of something deceptively simple. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. Not louder confidence. Not perfection. Trust.

Then 𝗣𝗶𝗽 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗻, Founder and CEO of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝘁𝘀, brought the power of the ask to life, with an important reminder. It starts with relationship. She shared personal stories of how being in genuine community has opened doors throughout her entrepreneurial journey, and it really landed.

We were then invited to share an “ask of the room”.
The honesty and courage in that space was powerful. Women like Melanie Hick and Nitika Vyas, CFA, and many others, shared what they are building. Please do check out their work.

So, my ask.

Through my business, 𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗯𝘆 𝗞𝗖𝗟, and as part of our 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, we have launched 𝘛.𝘙.𝘜.𝘌 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, our social impact work.
We will be delivering interactive workshops on 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 for girls in Years 10–13, specifically in underserved communities across London.

The aim is simple but important.
To equip the next generation of leaders with tools to navigate stress before they enter the workforce.

So my ask is small, but the impact could be big.
If you, or someone you know, would love to host one of these sessions, please DM me here on LinkedIn.

And finally, a heartfelt thank you to Nicole Godwin and Sophie Catto, for creating a space where we could show up as our full selves.
It is exciting to see what you are building next at AllBright everywoman, and I am grateful to have been in the room.
💛
ConfidenceBuilding

19/01/2026

As organisations begin shaping their 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 programmes for March, I’ve been working closely with women’s networks and leadership teams across financial and professional services.
What’s coming through strongly this year is a shared focus on 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, and 𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 — without success coming at the cost of wellbeing.
I’m always drawn to organisations that want their sessions to be practical, reflective, and grounded in the realities women are navigating at work — not just inspirational for the moment, but useful long after the session ends.

If you’re currently planning March activity and want to sense-check ideas or explore what’s resonating this year, I’m always happy to share what I’m seeing.

Break Your Burnout Cycle For Good

07/09/2026

03/08/2026

23/06/2026

25/05/2026

24/04/2026

02/04/2026

28/03/2026

20/03/2026

06/02/2026

19/01/2026

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