Podcast Summary: Uncensored CMO – Why We All Need to Slow Down in 2026

Host: Jon Evans
Guest: Emma Harris
Date: December 22, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Jon Evans welcomes Emma Harris—seasoned marketing leader, agency founder, and advocate for workplace well-being. The conversation delves into Emma’s rich career in sales and marketing, the life-changing cardiac arrest she experienced, and her urgent message for everyone as we approach 2026: "Slow the fuck down." The discussion bridges Emma’s practical insights on brand experience, managing people, personal resilience, and how true high performance means prioritizing well-being.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Emma’s Unconventional Path: Sales to Marketing Leadership

• Sales as the Foundation (01:00–05:20)

  • Began in B2B sales and learned the realities of branding at Molson Coors (then Bass).
  • ”There is no industry, I think, more than beer, where you really learn about brands because basically, it’s the same shit in different tins.” —Emma Harris (01:16)
  • Learned that truly effective marketing starts with understanding customer problems, not pushing products.

• Transforming Eurostar (05:30–07:30)

  • Instrumental in shifting Eurostar’s image from leisure to business, creating loyalty programs, and advocating unified sales-marketing teams.
  • Stressed the need for synergy between sales and marketing: ”We had one team... it was a beautiful thing.” (03:05)

Lessons from Major Crises

• Crisis Communication Pitfalls and Learnings (07:37–12:15)
  • Shared stories of tunnel fires and social media disasters at Eurostar.
  • Key lesson: Don’t over-explain in a crisis.
    • “You’ve said sorry, you’ve just got to get back. They want you to get back to being trusted... just shut the fuck up, stop talking about it, get back to being reliable.” —Emma Harris (09:23)
  • Reinforced by Jon’s experiences during the Lucozade and Ribena sugar reformulations: transparency can sometimes amplify negative sentiment, so be careful what you feed.
  • “If consumers love a brand, they want to be able to love it. So don’t keep reminding them that it’s changed.” —Emma Harris (12:09)

Staying the Course: The Power of Long-Term Perspective

• Marketing’s Human Side (12:41–16:50)
  • Value of being people-centric and investing in personal and team development.
  • “Marketing is about understanding customer need… but also that you’re only as good as your people.” —Emma Harris (13:52)
  • Advice to leaders: develop people experience with the same focus as customer experience.

Building Strategic Teams & Setting Up GLOW

• Choosing Team Members Wisely (16:50–18:23)

  • Hire for difference, not just similarity.
    • “I need people around me... that are going to slow me down and help me create that rigor around me.” (17:41)

• Transition to Entrepreneurship (18:23–21:41)

  • Honest account of highs and lows—bullying, personal loss, and particularly the importance of having a coach and a clear vision.
  • “I’m a big manifesto...I continue to do that because it evolves.” —Emma Harris (19:56)
  • GLOW’s philosophy: “Inside out branding”—alignment of brand promises with internal culture.

The Life-Changing Cardiac Arrest: Catalyst for Slow the Fuck Down

• Emma’s Story (22:42–25:35)
  • Suffered cardiac arrest in New York; only survived due to chance and rapid response.
  • “91% of people die. I just happened to have…three people [nearby]…they were all doctors and gave me CPR and saved my life.” —Emma Harris (23:21)
  • Publicly shared her story on LinkedIn, catalyzing the viral #slowthefuckdown message:
    • “I’m always putting everyone first and here I am. Don’t be me. Everyone who’s reading this, everywhere I look people are burning out.” (25:03)
    • The post reached 9 million views and thousands of comments.

The Slow the Fuck Down Philosophy

• Why Slowing Down Matters (25:59–30:29)
  • Chronic stress and fear-based behaviors dominate the workplace.
  • Slowing down is about intentionality and breaking the cycle of imagined threats.
  • “Slow the fuck down is not about doing less. It is about taking a breath before you do things…to make sure that those are the ones that are right for you.” —Emma Harris (27:04)
  • “When we do slow down, we end up speeding up... that’s where all the processing happens. That’s where the ideas come.” —Jon Evans (28:08)
  • GLOW now runs "Slow the Fuck Down" programs for businesses—helping teams refocus, align, and prioritize what actually matters.

Practical Advice for Leaders and Individuals

• On Prioritization and Saying No (30:29–31:30)

  • “Everything you say yes to that’s not right is getting in the way of doing the right thing.” —Jon Evans (30:29)
  • Fear fuels bad prioritization—challenge the evidence behind your imagined negative scenarios.

• Energy Management & Support Networks (38:05–39:27)

  • Importance of accountability groups and personal “board of directors.”
  • “Who’s the people that put that energy back in holding to account but also encouraging you?... It’s so important.” —Emma Harris (39:00)

• Building Helpful Rituals (40:19–41:32)

  • Emma suggests simple weekly planning rituals to support well-being and decision-making.
  • “Work out what matters and prioritize. It sounds really obvious, but unless you consciously do that, that’s where the fear and unconscious mitigation will take you down.” —Emma Harris (41:19)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There is no industry… more than beer, where you really learn about brands because basically, it’s the same shit in different tins.” —Emma Harris (01:16)
• “You’ve said sorry, you’ve just got to get back. They want you to get back to being trusted… just shut the fuck up, stop talking about it, get back to being reliable.” —Emma Harris (09:23)
• “If consumers love a brand, they want to be able to love it. So don’t keep reminding them that…it’s changed.” —Emma Harris (12:09)
• “People don’t map people experience with the same energy as customer experience…any brands like, ‘right, our customer experience has to be loaded with the brand.’ What about your people experience?” —Emma Harris (14:22)
• “Slow the fuck down is not about doing less. It is about taking a breath before you do things...” —Emma Harris (27:04)
• “When we do slow down, we end up speeding up. There’s a real contradiction... the clarity you get, the energy you restore in yourself actually prepares you to accelerate.” —Jon Evans (28:08)
• “Athletes don’t train seven days a week…The strength comes in the day off…you get stronger in the recovery. That’s actually where the jump happens.” —Jon Evans (33:09)
• “Work out what matters and prioritize. It sounds really obvious, but unless you consciously do that, that’s where the fear and unconscious mitigation will take you down.” —Emma Harris (41:19)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:56: Emma’s early career in sales, lessons in branding
• 03:00: The value of sales and marketing working together
• 05:23: Applying sales mindset to marketing—customer first
• 07:37: Crisis and communications lessons at Eurostar
• 12:41: Insights on staying with a brand long-term
• 14:15: Leadership—getting the best out of teams
• 16:50: Hiring for difference, not similarity
• 18:23: Personal hardship and career reinvention
• 22:42: Surviving cardiac arrest—turning point for work-life balance
• 25:35: The viral post and launch of “Slow the fuck down”
• 28:08: The paradox of slowing down to speed up
• 30:29: Prioritization and business FOMO
• 38:05: Keeping accountability and finding your tribe
• 41:19: Weekly rituals, rhythms, and practical wellbeing tips

Actionable Takeaways

• Prioritize both customer and employee experience.
• Build teams with complementary strengths, not clones.
• Develop rituals and planning that intentionally carve out real rest and reflection.
• Challenge imagined fears—focus on what’s true, not what anxiety projects.
• Create an accountability network: a tribe or personal board of directors.
• Align vision, priorities, and behaviors from the future you want, not the constraints you have today.
• Remember: Slowing down is what allows both people and businesses to sustainably speed up.

This episode delivers a powerful message for those looking to thrive in 2026 and beyond: success, resilience, and creativity aren’t the results of non-stop hustle—they’re born from purposeful pauses, self-care, and clarity of intent. Emma Harris’s story is both a warning and an inspiration to “slow the fuck down” before life makes the choice for you.