Dr. Erika Brown

This talk is designed for high-achieving women who have built successful, respected careers but quietly feel disconnected from their work, their energy, or themselves. They’re still performing. Still delivering. Still seen as leaders. But internally, something feels off. In this talk, Dr. Erika Brown draws on two decades in the pharmaceutical industry to name what many high performers struggle to articulate: the disconnect that forms when identity becomes overly tied to achievement. Rather than generic advice on balance or burnout, she explores how over-reliance on performance can erode engagement—and how reconnecting to curiosity, energy, and identity outside of work restores clarity and sustainability.

High performers rarely burn out in obvious ways — they quietly disconnect while still delivering. This talk helps organizations recognize the early signs of disengagement before performance, retention, and culture are affected. In this talk, Dr. Erika Brown draws on her experience in high-performance environments to show why traditional burnout signals fail to identify risk in top talentand how organizations unintentionally reinforce the very patterns that lead to disengagement. Leaders will learn how to recognize early signs of burnout in high performers, understand the cost of over-reliance on their strongest contributors, and take practical steps to protect performance and retention.