Walking the Talk: Two Neurodivergent Founders Launch Surface Deep to Rewrite the Future of Leadership

“We’re building the kind of workplace we needed when we were burning out.”

London, UK — 21 October 2025 Two highly experienced strategists and old school friends, Claudie Plen-McCormack and Mia Serra, are on a mission to change how organisations lead.

After decades in high-pressure roles in big tech, media, blue-chip corporations, start-ups and mission-led brands, both women hit the same wall: burnout. The kind that creeps in through constant relocation, caring responsibilities, masking neurodiversity, and the relentless pressure to perform.

Surface Deep wasn’t born in a boardroom. It was born on a walk along a riverbank — two friends sharing stories of ambition, exhaustion, and a shared vision: a workplace that doesn’t break its people in the pursuit of productivity.

“We want to build the world we needed,” says co-founder Claudie Plen-McCormack. “A world where authentic listening is normal. Where crises, illness and life stages are met with empathy rather than silence. Where leadership isn’t a performance, but a practice rooted in real human connection.”

A Leadership Model That Reflects Real Life

Surface Deep blends 30+ years of global strategy experience with lived neurodivergent insight to pioneer a new approach to leadership and team development, one that integrates embodiment, neuroscience and cultural intelligence.

For too long, leadership approaches have been shaped almost exclusively by old, traditional frameworks that are no longer relevant. Claudie and Mia offer something different:

● Leadership models incorporating innovations and perspectives from diverse thinkers, generations, and communities

● Grounded, embodied practices that integrate emotion, resilience and intelligence

● A philosophy that values depth over performance, and sustainable success over short-term optics.

“Too many organisations fall back on tick-box inclusion and leadership models

that no longer match the complexity of the world we live in,” says Mia Serra. “We don’t teach people to mask or perform better. We teach leaders to build cultures where people can breathe.”

Why This Matters Now

The workplace is at a breaking point.

According to Boston Consulting Group, 48% of workers globally are currently grappling with burnout. A UK survey by Trades Union Congress revealed 61% of employees feel “exhausted” at the end of the working day. Meanwhile, nearly half of employees globally are considering changing jobs within the next 12 months — signalling a sustained wave of disengagement and talent flight.

Research published in Harvard Business Review shows that diverse teams are 60% more productive than homogenous ones, but only when people feel safe to bring their full selves to work. Yet most workplaces remain structured around outdated leadership models that don’t support inclusion or psychological safety.

“Burnout isn’t a personal failure — it’s a system failure,” says Claudie. "People aren’t tired because they’re weak. They’re tired because the system isn’t designed to hold them.

Two Flagship Offers to Redefine How Teams Work

● Deep Inclusive™ Leadership

A pioneering model that integrates embodiment and inclusion into leadership.

Leaders learn to embrace diversity of thought, balance decisiveness with humility,

and make inclusion a daily practice, not a poster campaign.

● Deep Inclusive™ Teams

1–2 day programmes that transform groups of individuals into resilient, psychologically safe and creative units. Unlike traditional team-building, this

programme embeds depth and inclusion into the everyday fabric of how teams work.

Expect grounding techniques, embodied communication practices, and real

transformation. Open programmes launch November 2025, with bespoke initiatives available for organisations navigating rapid change and cultural challenges.

Not Just a Consultancy — A Movement

Surface Deep isn’t here to patch cracks. It’s here to redefine what it means to lead and belong in the modern workplace. “We’ve worked inside the system, and we’ve lived through its costs,” adds Mia.“That’s why people talk to us differently — because we know what it feels like." Contact us for more information and pricing or book a discovery call.