The Science of Sustaining Performance Under Pressure
At AURA, we believe that high performance and wellbeing are not competing priorities.
When stress and pressure are understood and managed intelligently, organisations can achieve sustainable performance without burning out their people.
AURA helps organisations measure and manage workplace stress risk so leaders and teams can perform at their best in demanding environments.
Founded by Chartered Occupational Psychologist Rachel Austen
Rachel Austen is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with more than 20 years of experience working with organisations across over 30 countries.
Prior to founding AURA in 2015, Rachel worked with two leading consultancies in the field — SHL and Mercer — where she specialised in leadership assessment, succession planning and talent strategy.
During this time she spent 10 years based in Asia, working with organisations across the region and gaining extensive cross-cultural experience supporting leaders and teams in multinational environments.
Throughout her career Rachel has conducted hundreds of leadership assessments and advised organisations on leadership selection, development and succession decisions. She has also many years experience of coaching leaders, spanning a wide range of industries and cultures and worked with all levels of seniority, right the way up to C Suite level.
• Chartered Occupational Psychologist (BPS)
• Registered Test User (BPS)
• Certified Leadership Assessor
• Certified Trainer (SHL)
• Creator of the AURA Stress Intelligence Framework
Rachel’s Story
A Personal Turning Point
Even as a Psychologist, I Didn’t See My Own Burnout Coming.
In 2015, I experienced severe burnout which left me unable to work for 6 months and took me about 2 years to fully recover from.
For over 10 years, i’d worked in fast paced, high pressure conditions as a business consultant so was very used to juggling multiple demands.
Furthermore, as a workplace psychologist and leadership assessor, I spent my days studying behaviour and helping others’ build their self-awareness to optimise their performance.
So, i thought I was pretty resilient and self-aware, until one day i crashed and burned.
The Wake-up Call
My wake-up call was physical - my body completely broke down. I had severe fevers and was unable to get out of bed.
But, i was also mentally exhausted, I couldn’t make even simple decisions and everything felt totally overwhelming.
Although it felt sudden, looking back, the warning signs had been building for years.
It made me realise how different things might have been if I’d had a way to recognise the early signals so I could have taken action long before reaching crisis point.
My Mission
This experience inspired me to help others build their awareness of early warning signs of burnout so they can prevent it happening.
Drawing on my professional expertise in psychometric assessment design — and a two-year research project — I developed AURA, a tool to measure burnout risk, identify warning signals, and guide practical remedial action.
But personal insight is only half the story.
Whilst my own behaviour and lack of awareness contributed to my burnout, so did the workplace environment around me. It became clear that tackling burnout effectively requires a systemic approach — one that drives action at the personal, team and organisational levels.
This philosophy now underpins all my work. For the past 10 years, I’ve partnered with organisations to help employees, teams and leaders recognise stress earlier, talk about issues openly, and put in place focused action plans that create healthier, more sustainable workplaces.
The Insight Behind AURA
Through my work, I saw a consistent pattern: too little pressure leads to disengagement — but too much leads to burnout.
This relationship is illustrated in the Sustainable Performance Curve.
The goal for organisations is not to remove pressure — but to help people maintain a sustainable level of performance so they can operate at their best.
But most people and organisations don’t know where people sit on this curve — or how to act on it.
That’s why I built AURA.
A Snapshot of Rachel’s Experience
25
Countries delivered projects in
100+
Companies worked with
850+
Leadership assessments & coaching sessions
15
Ultramarathons completed
Global Reach
Rachel now works with organisations internationally alongside a network of experienced consultants, organisational psychologists and coaches who support programme delivery across multiple regions.
This allows AURA to combine global expertise with local delivery, supporting organisations across Europe, Asia-Pacific and beyond.
Let’s build healthier, more resilient organisations
If you would like to explore how AURA could support your organisation, get in touch.