The Reinvention Diaries — Episode with Emma Rushton

Hosts: Michelle & Nicola

Guest: Emma Rushton — PR consultant, crisis communications specialist, and founder of Roseleigh Media (roseleighmedia.co.uk)

Emma Rushton is a PR consultant specialising in crisis communications and reputation management, working predominantly with charities and faith organisations. Based in Wolverhampton, she now works internationally. Her career path is a remarkable story of reinvention shaped by extraordinary life events.

In this episode:

• Emma knew she wanted to be a journalist at 14, but took a winding path through theology studies, teacher training, and various jobs before pursuing a master's in multimedia broadcast journalism at 25, using money saved for a cancelled wedding.
• She broke two bones and dislocated her ankle during her master's in Cornwall but refused to defer, learning to walk again while completing her studies.
• Her journalism career included freelancing for small radio stations where she interviewed David Cameron, Jon Snow, and reported from Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. The team won an IRN award despite being the smallest operation there.
• In December 2016, while visiting Berlin's Christmas markets between jobs, Emma found herself at the centre of a terrorist attack. She spent 11 hours doing back-to-back national interviews — only Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News asked if she was okay.
• Following the attack, Emma faced severe online trolling, death threats, and accusations of being a crisis actor. Police took the threats seriously, at one point stationing a car outside her home.
• She returned to journalism, worked through COVID covering an unrelenting stream of difficult stories, and eventually experienced a mental health crisis in 2022 after a workplace sexual harassment claim went unresolved. She walked out of her job and later ended up in A&E.
• Emma moved back in with her parents at 37 and slowly rebuilt her life, launching Roseleigh Media — named after a house she'd lived in in Cornwall. She now refuses to define herself solely by her career, embracing animals, crafting, swimming, and her love of autumn.
• She delivered a TED Talk in 2024 and has since worked with organizations like the British Red Cross, bringing her lived experience of crisis into training programs.
• Emma launched "The Social Media Frontline" on Blue Monday 2025, a program helping organisations prepare for social media crises and protect the staff — often junior team members — who bear the brunt of online vitriol.

Key takeaway: Crisis doesn't just happen to organisations — it happens to people. Preparation, compassion, and protecting your team matter as much as managing the narrative.

Connect with Emma:

• Website: roseleighmedia.co.uk
• LinkedIn: search "Emma Rushton" or "Roseleigh Media"
• Instagram/TikTok: @roseleighmedia
• Gluten-free travel blog: @glutenfreeemma on Instagram & TikTok

Contact the show: studio@thereinventiondiaries.co.uk | Instagram: @thereinventiondiariespodcast, www.thereinventiondiaries.co.uk

Contact Michelle or Nicola: www.mrsstylewright.com, www.nicolaaucklandphotography.co.uk