Mark Simmonds

Mark Simmonds is a workplace wellbeing speaker, author and creativity specialist who has built a reputation for delivering honest, engaging and practical keynote speeches on stress, resilience and mental health in the workplace. Best known as the author of ‘Beat Stress at Work’, Mark combines personal experience with more than 30 years of corporate and consultancy expertise to help organisations better understand the realities of pressure, burnout and performance. As the founder of ‘Genius You’, he has worked with global brands while also becoming a respected advocate for healthier workplace cultures and more open conversations around mental wellbeing.

Mark began his career after securing a place on the highly competitive Unilever Management Training Programme in 1988, an achievement that initially appeared to set him on a conventional corporate path. However, early in his professional journey, he experienced severe workplace anxiety and stress, something that would later influence the direction of his speaking and writing career. Over the following decades, Mark developed extensive expertise in management training, innovation and creative thinking, working with organisations including HSBC, AstraZeneca, Tesco and ABInBev. In 2000, he became Co-Founder of Brand Learning, before later co-founding Creative Creatures in 2008 and Genius You in 2020. Through these ventures, Mark focused on helping businesses unlock creativity, improve problem-solving and better understand how individuals think and work differently. His combination of commercial experience and lived personal insight gives his presentations a rare level of authenticity and relatability.

Alongside his work in creativity and innovation, Mark has become increasingly recognised for his contribution to workplace wellbeing and mental health awareness. His first book, ‘Breakdown and Repair’, published in 2019, explored both his own experiences with mental ill health and the challenges his family faced supporting a loved one through anorexia nervosa. In 2022, he released ‘Beat Stress at Work’, a practical and deeply personal guide to managing workplace stress. Mark continued this work with the publication of ‘How the Successful Deal with the Stressful’ in 2025, examining how high achievers protect and strengthen their mental wellbeing. Beyond his writing, Mark has delivered talks and workshops for companies including Virgin Media O2, Barclays, Philips, Waterstones and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. He also is a qualified Mental Health First Aider, further reinforcing his practical understanding of mental health support within demanding working environments.

Event organisers hire Mark because he speaks with openness, credibility and practical insight on issues affecting modern workplaces. Mark’s presentations are highly interactive, combining research, business experience, practical frameworks and deeply personal stories to encourage meaningful discussion and lasting behavioural change. Audiences connect strongly with his honest delivery style and his ability to approach difficult subjects with warmth, humour and empathy. Mark helps organisations create healthier, more supportive and more productive workplace cultures, leaving audiences with actionable strategies they can immediately apply both professionally and personally.