Chief Encourager
Award-winning keynote speaker and author Grace Marshall helps leaders and teams do their best work in changing times. She names the hidden reason smart strategies stall and brilliant people burn out - High Functioning Fear® - and her refreshingly human, memorable Three Shifts framework gives people a practical way to move from fear-driven reaction to courageous, connected action.
Book Grace
Grace Marshall is your Chief Encourager: an award-winning author, keynote speaker and productivity expert helping leaders and teams do their best work in changing times. She has trained more than 10,000 professionals, with clients including Boots, BT, Sky Media, Sage, NHS, NSPCC, Pearson and the Environment Agency.
So often, the smartest strategies stall. Change programmes meet quiet resistance. Brilliant people work harder without getting further. Grace names the reason why: High Functioning Fear® - fear that doesn't look like fear, but shows up as perfectionism, perpetual busyness, people-pleasing and resistance to change. Naming it is often the missing piece in leadership, performance and culture efforts.
Her Three Shifts framework turns that recognition into a catalyst - equipping leaders and teams to meet change and challenge with courage, clarity and connection, rather than survival mode.
Known for her refreshingly human approach, Grace doesn't just deliver speeches - she curates conversations that challenge thinking and inspire action. Your audience will leave energised, with renewed hope and strategies they can put into practice immediately.
Grace is the author of three books, including Struggle: The Surprising Truth, Beauty and Opportunity Hidden in Life's Sh*ttier Moments, and hosts the What the Fear?! podcast. Her accolades include Virtual Speaker of the Year and CMI Management Book of the Year: Best Commuter's Read, and her insights have been featured in The Guardian, Forbes, HuffPost and on BBC Radio.

How to be Really Productive: Achieving clarity and getting results in a world where work never ends won The Commuter’s Read category at the CMI 2017 Management Book of the Year Awards, where judges called it "a breath of fresh air."

Shortlisted in both the People's Book Prize and the Business Book Awards as a Work Life finalist, Struggle is an invitation to engage with change, challenge, disruptions and disappointments in a fundamentally different way – one that shifts us out of survival mode, to discover the surprising truth, beauty and opportunity hidden in life’s sh*ttier moments.

Grace’s first book 21 Ways to Manage the Stuff that Sucks Up Your Time was born from her experience coaching clients through (and living herself) the juggle of running a business whilst raising a family.
From Perpetual Busyness to Impactful Results
The Holy Shift mindset we need to innovate, lead and excel in uncertainty
Create the environment where your people thrive rather than survive through change.
For leaders navigating change and uncertainty – uncover how fear shapes culture, trust, and decision-making and how to lead with clarity and courage
For HR and L&D teams building resilience, wellbeing and engagement – learn how to recognise and address fear-based behaviours across your organisation
For sales and customer-facing teams – discover how to transform fear into confidence, curiosity and stronger client relationships.
Recorded Live at #Future24 Manchester, January 2024
Commissioned piece for Sage Member Masterclass
Talking creativity and innovation with BT’s Mauro Mortali
YouTube
Forbes
HR News
BBC News
Huffpost
Stylist
The Company Doctor Podcast
BT Business
Action for Happiness
YouTube
Sage
Sage
Sage
"“Incredibly thought provoking, engaging and the graphics rocked!”"
Soraia Cerqueira,
"“Brilliant session. Love the 3 S’s. Looking forward to using this with my team.”"
Steve Cross
"“A great opportunity for leaders to discuss what they have been through and find the positives, helping them recognise that many opportunities and new ideas can be born in the darkest of tunnels!”"
Klare Rufo
"“More than just a highly knowledgeable expert, Grace is a warm and witty human being and a great storyteller. Grace empowered us with highly useful and memorable strategies and tactics to reduce overwhelm and effectively prioritize and focus.”"
Spencer Heijnen
"“We were thrilled to be able to have Grace as one of our keynote speakers as part of our Global Learning at Work Week at Pearson. Grace was incredibly flexible in her approach to working with us. She listened to the specific challenges we were facing and designed a session that would resonate with our global colleagues. Grace’s session was one of our most popular sessions for the week, and you could feel the buzz in the Zoom chat as our colleagues listened, learned, and bounced additional ideas around.”"
Kim England
"“Grace was the first presenter of the day at our biannual conference this year. We always find the first talk is crucial to the energy of the day, and Grace proved an inspired choice. Not only did she impart an amazing number of ideas in a short space of time, but did so in such a dynamic, fun and inclusive way that it left the audience buzzing.”"
Rebecca Silvester
"I’ve worked with Grace a couple of times for different speaking engagements and always find her down to earth, light and human approach refreshing and engaging. Most recently she supported a curated conversation about embracing change and she was fantastic! I’d highly recommend Grace to anyone and can vouch for her flexibility, creativity and commitment in pulling sessions together for maximum impact."
Steve Smith
"We got so much from Grace’s session. Her open and relatable style immediately created a safe space for honest conversations, both in the room and within ourselves. What stood out was how she helped us view fear, frustration, and uncertainty, not as signs of failure, but as signals for growth and opportunity. Through thoughtful prompts, engaging discussion, and practical tools, Grace helped us reframe how we see challenge and change. One of the biggest takeaways? Recognising that we are change professionals, not just on the receiving end of reform, but actively shaping it. That realisation gave our team a renewed sense of purpose and confidence. We’ve explored resilience before, but this session went deeper. It brought energy, clarity, and language we can use moving forward. It helped us reconnect with our strengths and see uncertainty as something we can navigate together."
"A simple, memorable framework that my whole team can use to navigate an upcoming season of change."
Alison Turvey
"Best keynote speaker I have ever listened to."
"I invited Grace to speak at the closing event of one of the talent development programmes I run, on the topic of Struggle and emotional resilience. It was a huge success. She’s so easy to work with, generous in sharing insights and was able to take context from the rest of the day and other speakers. Grace is able to take vulnerability and ‘life happens’ and provide a model for people to explore the learning and opportunity in that. It’s refreshing and empowering. Her work transcends seniority levels and industries. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Grace as a speaker."
Pauline Salomons
"Grace's talk was inspiring, grounded and set the tone for the upcoming days for our delegates with some introspective food for thought about how to stay resilient and learn how to grow even in difficult times. She was approachable, engaging and went above and beyond to connect with her audience and hear their own stories and perspectives. Grace and her team were a breeze to deal with as an organiser, and made the whole experience very smooth."
Richard Dal Piaz
"Grace came to work with our wider management team at our management conference and blew us away. She was engaging, approachable, grounded and the team took a huge amount from the day."
Clare Fleming
"My whole team loved it. Grace was great. Been thinking about nothing else for the last 48 hours."
Andrea Newman
"A perfectly pitched, relaxing, fun, interactive and reflective session to wrap up our two days. You contended with sh*tty tech and tired fundraisers, but what was really lovely were the authentic, raw and personal contributions from people who had not found their voice until that moment."
Patrick Weaver
"You’ve left me thoughtful and I want to change stuff right away."
