i’m Emma speaker author alchemist
Working with ancient wisdom and modern understanding to help people reconnect with themselves, their stories, and what truly matters, gently and with care.
Hello, I’m Emma…
currently on surname number three…
Emma Macpherson, Emma Amyatt-Leir, and Emma Pruen are simply different versions of me across the multiverse.
I’m an Enneagram 2 with a strong 1 wing, an ENFP, a Dramatic Winter, and an Aquarian with a Cancer Moon and Scorpio rising. Astrologers have described me as a kind-hearted, mystical rebel, a paradox, and someone with eccentric ideas grounded in common sense, all of which you’ll probably recognise as you explore my work and career path.
I live between England, Scotland and France, carry Celtic DNA, speak with an English accent, and grew up in many places, including spending my teenage years in Egypt. That mix of roots, movement, and cultures has shaped both who I am and how I work.
featured in…
My Story…
A Life of Curiosity, Courage & Care…
I didn’t begin my working life in the world I now inhabit. My first job in the late 80s was as a buyer at Marks & Spencer. It paid well, looked impressive on paper, and left me quietly empty. I realised early on that I needed a career that made a difference, something that touched real lives rather than just moving products around.
Around that time, I was given a colour analysis session as a Christmas present. I remember feeling mildly offended. Fashion was my job, after all. But that day changed everything. Sitting opposite the legendary Carolyn Miller, I experienced something I hadn’t known I was missing. It felt as if someone was truly seeing me for the first time. I was hooked.
I was given a colour analysis session as a Christmas present. I remember feeling mildly offended. Fashion was my job, after all.
Within a year I left M&S and trained as one of Carolyn’s consultants. She had taken over the image consultancy House of Colour, and I went on to run a busy franchise in West London. Alongside my private clients, I began speaking publicly, starting with local Women’s Institutes and eventually returning to M&S to deliver corporate work. I worked with organisations such as British Airways, Next and PricewaterhouseCoopers, but my most meaningful moments were always one to one. I still remember the middle-aged woman who cried when she realised she had spent her whole life believing she was invisible and ugly, only to discover she was neither. Those moments stayed with me. They still do.
In my early thirties I married, travelled widely, and spent time in Tibet and India, where I met the Dalai Lama. That experience stirred something deeper. I felt compelled to tell the story of Tibet, so I retrained as a journalist while raising a baby and relocating to Brighton. At the same time, I continued exploring what truly makes us tick through countless workshops and trainings. I felt more alive than ever and wanted to share that sense of discovery with others.
I realised quite early on that success without meaning feels empty. I needed a life, and a career, that actually made a difference.
That impulse led me to co-found Wave Magazine with my twin sister Charlotte, a photographer. For over a decade we explored the human potential and personal development world, sorting the genuinely transformative from the merely fashionable. It was an education in discernment, curiosity, and humility.
In my early forties I stepped into politics, taking on a communications role with the Green Party. I was part of the team that helped elect the first Green MP to Westminster, and later I was elected to the Green Party National Executive – Head of Internal Communications and served as Families and Children’s spokesperson. Through this work I campaigned on issues close to my heart, including the marginalisation of women over fifty, the impact of media and advertising on young people’s wellbeing, and everyday sexism and inequality. I was surrounded by activists who were focused not on personal enlightenment but on collective change, and that mattered to me deeply.
The moment that changed everything was being truly seen. Once that happens, you can never go back to living invisibly.
After an unsuccessful campaign to become a Green MEP, my life took another turn. My partner Matthew and I bought a house in south west France with the intention of creating a retreat centre. That dream became The French Retreat, a place where people could gather, reflect, heal, and do meaningful work together. Matthew was not only my husband but my life partner and business partner. He was a deeply experienced self-development facilitator who worked with teams and groups across Europe and the Middle East, from the European Commission to peace initiatives, families, and workshops. Together, we built something that felt alive and purposeful.
Then in the autumn of 2024, Matthew died from pancreatitis. Losing him was devastating. My world crumbled and I had no idea how to rebuild it.
Losing Matthew changed me forever, but it didn’t end the work we believed in. Carrying his legacy forward, while finding my own voice through writing and speaking, feels like the most honest thing I can do.
However even in the depths of grief, I knew I would continue our vision for the French Retreat. Today, as well as continuing to lead my own retreats, I welcome exceptional facilitators and wellness practitioners to our French hideaway, offering them a place to host their own workshops and retreats. I hold the space, the home, the land, and the hospitality so their work can unfold.
Alongside this, I have returned to writing and stepped more fully into public speaking. I draw on everything I have lived, learned, and witnessed. From fashion to politics, journalism to systemic and family constellations, grief to renewal. My work now is about helping people pause, reflect, and remember who they are beneath the noise. I work gently and intuitively, grounded in ancient wisdom and modern understanding, always with respect for the complexity of human lives.
This is not a straight line story. It never was. It is a woven one. And it continues.
If you want to see my CV it’s here.
