Katie Maycock Speaker Focus

Katie Maycock is a Burnout Specialist and Speaker. She specialises in talking about the impact that stress has on the body and mind and how it can reduce productivity, mental clarity and how it’s limiting people.

Mental health has become one of most popular speaking areas we get enquiries on and in turn Katie has spoken for us on a number of events on Burnout. She has kindly taken some time out to answer some questions for us for this months Speaker Focus. 

Hi Katie, I hope you are well. For those of us who don’t know what burnout is, are you able to give us brief overview of what burnout is? 

Burnout is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by chronic stress, but it’s more than just being tired. It’s the body and brain saying, “I can’t keep going like this.”

While the World Health Organization defines it as a workplace phenomenon, I look at burnout through a wider lens — it’s a combination of systemic factors (like workload and culture) and individual stress behaviours (like overworking, avoiding, or people-pleasing) that compound over time.

You come from a place where you had your own experience of burnout. Tell me a little bit about your own experiences? 

I always say I was “lucky” to burn out twice before I turned 27. Both times, I was working in recruitment, high-pressure, high-performance, but the real issue wasn’t the job; it was how I showed up.

I ignored every red flag my body was giving me — gut issues, anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks- until one morning I simply couldn’t get out of bed. That moment forced me to rethink everything I knew about success, stress, and performance. It’s why I now help others recognise those warning signs before they hit the wall.

Whilst your speech covers burnout and what burnout is – you also offer some practical advice on how to prevent it too?

I do! A lot of what I talk about is to ensure people know WHAT they can do. My sessions are built around practical, personal change. I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions, everyone experiences stress differently, so prevention has to be personal.

I focus on helping people identify what I call their pressure points — the habits, behaviours, or beliefs that make stress spiral. For some, it’s about improving sleep; for others, it’s learning to set and hold boundaries, or for managers, it’s understanding how their stress cascades through the team.

I always aim for every attendee to leave with at least one actionable thing they can do that day — something small but meaningful that changes how they work and recover.

You offer the opportunity via your website https://gystwellbeing.com/ for people to gert their burnout score? Can you explain a little bit about that.

Yes! The Burnout Score is designed to help people understand where they sit on the stress-to-burnout spectrum. Burnout doesn’t happen overnight, it builds gradually.

The score gives you insight into how stress is showing up for you right now, and what steps you can take to protect your energy and performance before it becomes burnout.

You also offer leadership consulting too is that correct? 

Yes! Leadership consulting and training are a huge part of what I do. At GYST, we help leaders understand how their stress patterns impact not just their performance but also how their teams show up too.

When leaders can recognise and manage their stress, everything shifts, communication gets clearer, decision-making improves, and teams feel safer to actually perform. It’s not just about avoiding burnout; it’s about creating leaders who can handle pressure without passing it down.

That’s what led me to create The Meltdown, a cyber escape–style experience that makes stress tangible. It puts leadership teams under pressure so they can see, in real time, how stress affects decision-making, collaboration, and communication. Then we unpack it together so they can spot those same patterns in themselves and their teams back in the workplace

Looking back on our emails, I completely forgot that we first met in person back in February 2020 literally a few weeks before the pandemic hit. It was such a strange time – how did it initially affect your speaking work?

Oh, that’s crazy! Initially, my talks all got postponed for 6 weeks… Because from memory we were only meant to be locked down for 4-6 weeks… Well, that didn’t happen. 

I quickly pivoted to webinars, and my goal was to make them as interactive as possible. I didn’t want to just talk at people; I wanted to create connection and conversation, even through a screen. That shift taught me a lot about engagement and audience energy, which I still use in my in-person sessions today.

And lastly, I know you have recently move away from near London to the countryside – how are you finding it? Do you miss London? 

I still come to London frequently (was in London 5 times last month) BUT I do love living in the countryside. It’s quiet and really peaceful. You know, helps with the stress and all.

For more information on Katie’ speaking work please visit her webpage.