Ope Popoola

Founder, Anaura

Wellbeing Speaker | Performance Risk Consultant

I am Ope Popoola, the proud Founder of Anaura, a lifestyle systems company helping high-performing women sustain success without burning out.

I've spent over twelve years leading complex transformation programmes across global institutions, including Howden Insurance, Wise, Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Nesta Trust. My work focuses on building structured frameworks that reduce risk, improve clarity and protect long-term performance. I operate in environments where results are expected, and pressure is constant.

My understanding of performance, however, was shaped as much at home as it was at work.

As a mother of two, I know what it means to carry the thinking for everyone. The school forms, the activity schedules, the meals, the laundry, the bills, the emotional temperature of the house, the career decisions, and the question of when there is space for herself. It is not just the doing. It is the constant mental tracking that never fully switches off.

During the day, I lead multi-million-pound programmes. In the evenings, she runs another operation entirely, one without recognition, structure or formal support.

People often ask me how I managed it all. The truth is I stopped trying to manage everything through effort alone. I began building systems instead.

Anaura was born from that shift.

My mission is to help ambitious women turn achievement into sustainable performance by replacing mental overload with intentional life systems.

My vision is to see companies retain and protect their highest-performing female talent by addressing burnout as a structural performance risk, not simply a well-being issue.

Alongside my corporate career, I also serve in school governance, giving me direct insight into education systems, safeguarding responsibilities and community leadership. I understand pressure from multiple angles: corporate, domestic and civic.

My passion is helping women define success on their own terms and build the structure to achieve it without losing themselves in the process.

I speak to women who are driven, accomplished and outwardly successful yet quietly stretched by competing demands. I challenge inherited definitions of success and encourage women to define ambition, timelines and fulfilment for themselves. More importantly, I give them structure to sustain those choices.

For companies, the outcome is measurable. Stronger retention. Reduced burnout risk. Higher engagement. Performance that lasts.

I work with organisations that understand sustainable performance is not a perk. It is a strategic priority.