Running on Empty
A keynote your people will actually feel. Running on Empty speaks to the burnout, invisible load and quiet depletion that exists in every team, creating the kind of conversation your organisation needs to have.
Why this keynote matters
Many of the people who are most relied upon are also the ones most at risk of quietly running on empty.
The leaders.
The carers.
The helpers.
The high performers.
The people who keep going often at significant personal cost.
This keynote creates a powerful moment of reflection and perspective for audiences navigating burnout, invisible load, leadership pressure, care responsibilities and the expectation to keep functioning, no matter what.
Why book Lou?
Lou has delivered keynote talks at mental health advocacy events for over 20 years, and brings extensive experience facilitating leadership development programs across the corporate sector. She brings a rare combination of:
Lived Experience
As a carer, mental health advocate and someone who has navigated the realities of grief, mental illness and invisible load personally, Lou speaks with honesty and depth.
Corporate Credibility
With more than 20 years in senior leadership, customer strategy and people leadership roles, Lou understands the pressures, expectations and emotional realities people bring to work.
Speaker Presence
Lou has a natural ability to hold a room, creating talks that are warm, grounded, moving and highly relatable.
Audience and Outcomes:
This keynote is ideal for organisations and events that want a more honest, compassionate conversation about how people are really doing, including:
- All teams and people leaders navigating constant change and pressure
- Women’s leadership and gender equity programs where the invisible load is a live reality
- Caring professions and frontline teams who hold space for others every day
- Corporate, government and NFP conferences focused on wellbeing, psychological safety or culture
- Mental health and carers’ events wanting a grounded, non-clinical lived experience voice
Participants will:
- Recognise what running on empty really looks like – beyond visible crisis
- Understand why burnout often happens to the “strong ones”
- Reflect on the stories they hold about coping, responsibility and putting themselves last
- Leave with better questions to ask each other than “Are you okay?”
Format and Pricing Options
Lou will work with you to shape the right format for your event:
Signature keynote (30 minutes) - $1,500+GST
A focused, high-impact keynote that fits into town halls, lunch & learns and leadership events.
Signature keynote and facilitated reflection (45-60 minutes) - $2,000+GST
The keynote plus facilitated reflection or Q&A, designed to help your audience relate the ideas to their own context and start the conversation in the room.
Tailored workshop or leadership session (60-90 minutes) - Pricing to be agreed
A more interactive session for leadership groups, carers, or specific teams, with space for discussion, practical tools and application to your organisation.
Available in-person and online.
About Lou
Lou Wardlaw is the founder of Grounded Together, a Melbourne-based coaching practice supporting carers, and Chair of mental health research charity One in Five. She brings together lived experience as a carer and sibling, personal recovery from breast cancer and loss, senior leadership roles in large organisations, and over two decades of mental health advocacy.
Lou is known for creating rooms where people feel seen, not judged, and where even the most capable, “together” people can finally exhale.