I recently had the honor of speaking at the Voices of Women Summit in celebration of International Women’s Day. The summit set out to break a world record for the most women speaking in a single day. While the official record was not reached, something remarkable still happened: more than 221 women shared their voices, insights, and leadership in one powerful day.

I was proud to be among them.

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International Women’s Day is both a celebration and a call to action. It honors the achievements of women around the world while reminding us that meaningful progress toward equity and leadership representation is still unfolding.

 

My talk focused on the principles of Heart Led Leadership—a leadership approach grounded in humanity, environment, alignment, resilience, and trust. When leadership systems are designed with these principles in mind, organizations create the conditions where people can perform, grow, and lead without sacrificing their well-being. Events like the Voices of Women Summit remind us of the power of collective voice. When women speak, systems shift.

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You can watch the full talk here.

I joined The Dez Experience Podcast for a deeply personal conversation about leadership, burnout, and the experiences that shape how we lead.

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In the episode, we explored why burnout is often misunderstood as a personal weakness when, in reality, it is frequently a system design problem. I shared how the principles behind Heart Led Leadership challenge the idea that endurance is simply about working harder or being more resilient. Instead, leaders must design environments that enable people towhere people can perform sustainably. We also discussed why empathy is not just a personality trait but a strategic leadership skill—one that allows leaders to build trust, alignment, and stronger teams.

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The conversation also touched on more personal moments that shaped my leadership philosophy: a health scare that changed how I understand strength, lessons about control and responsibility from growing up with an alcoholic father, and how those experiences influenced the way I think about parenting and leadership today.

 

And, of course, we talked about the things that ground me outside of work—my love for my husband and children, and my enthusiasm for the WNBA.

It was an honest and thoughtful conversation about leadership, resilience, and designing systems that allow people to thrive.

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Listen to the full episode here.

I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Team Network Rally Point Monday, where I shared ideas from my work on Heart Led Leadership and the growing conversation around burnout in high-performing environments.

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In the session, we explored a simple but often overlooked truth: burnout is not always a personal failure. More often, it is a design flaw. Many organizations unintentionally build systems that reward constant urgency, invisible labor, and unsustainable capacity.

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The conversation focused on how leaders can begin shifting those patterns by designing for endurance instead of exhaustion. When leadership systems prioritize clarity, alignment, trust, and resilience, teams can perform at a high level without sacrificing well-being.

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It was an energizing discussion with leaders committed to building organizations where people can succeed and sustain their success over time.

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​You can watch the full talk here.

“I’m just a lawyer…”

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That’s how I jokingly introduced myself on Positive Talk Radio with Kevin McDonald yesterday.

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We laughed about it — because if you’ve ever worked in privacy, compliance, or anything regulatory, you know that’s never just anything. What I appreciated most about the conversation was how quickly it moved past titles and into something more real:

 

What does it actually mean to lead well right now?

 

We talked a lot about HEART —
Humanity. Environment. Alignment. Resilience. Trust.

And how empathy and authenticity aren’t “nice to have” qualities — they’re what make leadership sustainable.

 

Also… that maybe being a former ballerina, a lawyer, a mom, and someone who’s had to rebuild after a health scare gives you a slightly different lens on what strength looks like. (Less “push through everything,” more “build something you can actually live inside.”)

 

Grateful for conversations that feel thoughtful, a little unexpected, and very human. And I'm so grateful to Kevin and Brichelle, and the producers, editors, and staff of Positive Talk Radio, for this opportunity. 

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You can listen to episodes of the podcast here:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5yZAdanyleXGfqeyM57jj0

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-421-how-lauren-wu-redefines-leadership-without-burnout/id1592839447?i=1000756018899&uo=4

• Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b7227a8e-dd6f-488a-9bf4-3e1bc8390ce2

• iHeartRadio: https://iheart.com/podcast/87062639

• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/positive-talk-radio-3982674

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/SYDZeBDSWwo

I’ll soon be joining the 40s Formula Podcast for a conversation about women’s health, leadership, and the personal reinvention that can emerge during midlife.

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In this episode, we’ll talk about the realities of perimenopause and how women in their 40s often navigate profound shifts in energy, identity, and priorities while continuing to lead at work and at home.​ I’ll also share my “phoenix story”—the personal and professional turning points that reshaped how I think about strength, resilience, and what it means to rise again after difficult seasons. It’s an honest conversation about health, reinvention, and the courage it takes for women to redefine themselves in the middle of life’s most demanding chapters.

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Stay tuned for the episode release.  Until then, you can listen to episodes of the podcast here.

I’ll soon be joining the Emotionally Wealthy Podcast for a deeply personal conversation about childhood conditioning, achievement, and the patterns that shape how high performers move through the world.

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In this episode, we explore who I learned to become as a child growing up in an environment shaped by abuse and secrecy, and how achievement and professional success became a form of protection and power. We also discuss how those early survival patterns followed me into adulthood, influencing marriage, motherhood, and leadership.

 

We talk openly about the health consequences of chronic stress, including the wake-up call of my pulmonary embolism, and what shifted when family, not performance, became the priority. The conversation also reflects on turning trauma into power: how those experiences influenced career choices, partnership, and the creation of family, and what it means to break generational patterns through conscious partnership, healing, and therapy.

It’s an honest discussion about resilience, reinvention, and the work of building a life defined by intention rather than survival.

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Stay tuned for the episode release. Until then, you can listen to episodes of the podcast here.

Lauren Wu joins Christine Gale on the Girl Out of Order podcast for a deeply personal and candid conversation about what happens when life forces you to step off the path you worked so hard to build—and how you find your way forward.

Once operating at the highest levels of her career as an attorney and Chief Privacy Officer, Lauren shares how a near-fatal pulmonary embolism at 41 became a turning point that reshaped everything: her relationship with work, identity, leadership, and success.

This episode moves between lightness and depth—laughing about shared experiences as lawyers, while also exploring the harder truths of navigating personal history, unexpected disruption, and the work of rebuilding when everything shifts.

In this conversation, Lauren shares:

• Why burnout is not a personal failure—but a systems issue

• What it means to let go of performance-driven identity

• How high achievers can rebuild without returning to unsustainable patterns

• The role of pacing, empathy, and self-compassion in long-term success

• What it looks like to design a life and career that actually supports your capacity

At its core, this conversation reflects the foundation of Lauren’s work through Heart Led Leadership, helping individuals and organizations move beyond endurance-driven models of success and toward more sustainable, human-centered ways of leading and working.

Because true leadership isn’t about pushing through at all costs.
It’s about knowing when to listen and having the courage to build something different.

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You can listen to the episode here.

​In this episode of Matters.com Presents, Barton Williams sits down with Lauren Wu, attorney, executive coach, keynote speaker, and founder of Heart Led Leadership.

 

Drawing from a deeply personal health crisis that reshaped her life and career, Lauren shares how her near-fatal pulmonary embolism at 41 led her to challenge conventional ideas of performance and success. Together, they explore her HEART framework and the small, practical shifts leaders can make to build more sustainable, human-centered ways of working.

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You can listen to episodes of the podcast here.

I recently joined the Millionaire by Morning podcast for a conversation that challenged what we think “success” is supposed to look like—and what it actually costs.

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We talked about the moment when high performance stops working…
when pushing harder isn’t the answer…and what it really takes to rebuild when everything shifts.

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Until the full episode drops, I’m sharing a few clips that capture the heart of the conversation:

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✨ Clip 1: The Difference Between Being Strong & Disconnected

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✨ Clip 2: Why High Performers Struggle With Being Human

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✨ Clip 3: One Truth About Leadership Most People Aren't Ready to Hear

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This conversation is about more than leadership or career growth. It’s about alignment. Capacity. And telling the truth about what actually works.

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You can listen to the episode here or watch the episode here.