Marie’s Story
From Fashion Industry Expert to Burn Out Expert
Marie Oakes is former designer for fashion powerhouses like Alexander McQueen and Mulberry, turned acclaimed speaker on wellbeing and burnout. Marie now helps everyone from global brands to frazzled start-ups address the question, “what could you achieve if you could truly untether the talent in your team?”
The route from designer to wellness expert is quite the journey, and it was born out of the catalyst of her own burnout in her early 30s. Emotionally spent and physically broken, the 24/7 pressures of the fashion industry had taken their toll. Marie needed to rebuild, and after a period of introspection, she took action in every aspect of her life.
In Marie’s talks, she reveals the cornerstones of her recovery with unreserved honesty and reinforces her strong belief that everyone can reach their potential with the right steps and support.
Looking at fashion and the creative industries through a critical lens, Marie places the responsibility firmly on both sides: company culture + personal resilience. Through practical, actionable advice, Marie will educate + empower teams to adapt and embrace change – both personally and professionally.
After my burnout, I started asking myself a different question:
“What if we could have both – Success AND Wellbeing…?”
Was that even possible…? Imagine what that could look like, feel like, be like…? For me, other creatives, the fashion industry..?”
Marie backstage with Alexander McQueen 2000
Marie’s high flying, high pressure career, of global travel, enormous responsibility, crazy deadlines, mixing with high profile people, appeared glamorous & successful on the outside. However, underneath she was crumbling. She maxed out and burned out. She was just 32.
She went on a journey of self recovery and learnt how to rewire her brain, regain control of her life and was able to reconnect with her true self. As part of that process she undertook extensive research into resilience and positive psychology and developed her wellbeing, self-care and resilience toolkit which she now uses to help leaders and teams excel without burning out, and learn how to live and work in a more sustainable way.
In her interactive talks and workshops packed with stories and real-life experiences, Marie is engaging, motivational, inspiring and real. She equips teams and individuals with the awareness and possibilities when you start to take control of your own wellbeing.
