With over 35 years of combined experience, Rhiannon Crispe and Michelle Luken are occupational therapists, international speakers, and innovators redefining how we understand burnout and wellbeing in modern work and life.
Meet Rhiannon and Michelle
CO-CREATORS OF THE BURN IN MODEL©
You’re probably here because something about this idea of Burn In resonates with you — maybe you’ve felt the edge of burnout, or maybe you just know there’s more to life than keeping up. Either way, we’re really glad you found your way here.
Our work is about helping people — and the systems we live and work in — move from burnout to Burn In.
It’s about remembering what lights you up, protecting that flame, and building a life and career that feel like you.
This isn’t about perfection or constant productivity. It’s about alignment, energy and meaning — and creating space for your flame to burn steady and strong.
If you’re here, we have a feeling you’re already ready for that.
With heart,
Our mission is to ignite a global shift — from burnout to Burn In. We’re here to help people and organizations live and lead from alignment, purpose, and power — not exhaustion.
We navigated time zones, carved out moments between client sessions, school drop-offs, and dinner prep. We showed up at weird o’clock — 2am calls, half-asleep but lit up like a match. One of us was always in pajamas, and we passed the baton like two souls on a mission — building The Burn In Model© across time zones, broken sleep, and the wild rhythm of life.
What began as late-night conversations squeezed between work and family life has evolved into an international initiative — shared on global stages, in classrooms, workplaces and research forums around the world.
We’re working alongside leaders, educators and changemakers who believe the future depends on reigniting the human spirit, not running it dry.
This is just the beginning. Because the more people who learn to Burn In, Not Out, the brighter the world becomes.
ON A MISSION TO REACH MILLIONS
Make Burn In a Household Name
The Burn In Model©
A Lens and Language for Reframing Burnout and Living in Alignment
EBOOK
This 50-page eBook takes you inside The Burn In Model© — exploring the flame, the ecosystem and the story behind it. Designed for practitioners, leaders and seekers ready to move beyond burnout, it offers a practical pathway to bring the Burn In philosophy to life in real work, real systems and real change.
WHO WE ARE
MEET RHIANNON
Rhiannon Crispe is an occupational therapist, speaker, and co-creator of The Burn In Model©. With 17+ years of clinical and entrepreneurial experience, she has supported hundreds of individuals and families in creating meaningful, sustainable ways of living and working.
Rhiannon Crispe is an international speaker, occupational therapist and co-creator of The Burn In Model© - a contemporary model redefining how we understand burnout, alignment and wellbeing in modern work and life.
With over 17 years of experience as an occupational therapist and business owner, Rhiannon has supported hundreds of individuals and families from all walks of life to cultivate meaningful and sustainable ways of living and working.
Recognized as an expert in occupation, Rhiannon’s work explores the intersection of occupation, identity and purpose. As both a critical thinker and creative disruptor, she challenges conventional approaches to wellbeing and invites people and organizations to reimagine what meaningful, human-centered work can look like. Her mission is simple - to inspire new ways of living and leading where people return to what fuels them, protect what matters, and Burn In, Not Out.
MEET MICHELLE
Michelle Luken is an occupational therapist, speaker, and co-creator of The Burn In Model©. Her 17-year career spans the U.S. military, leadership, mental healthcare, teaching, research, curriculum development and human performance. Michelle brings a systems-focused, evidence-informed lens to modern wellbeing and leadership.
A Doctor of Science in Occupational Therapy and former U.S. Army Officer, Michelle has served in roles ranging from mental health clinician to human performance specialist to educator. Her work blends clinical expertise with systems thinking, helping individuals and organizations create sustainable ways of working without sacrificing wellbeing or impact.
She also contributes to Warfighter mental health research as a behavioural scientist, supporting alignment and resilience in demanding environments.
Her mission is to help people reconnect with purpose, lead with authenticity, and cultivate environments where individuals and teams can truly Burn In, Not Out.
OUR STORY
Mid 2024
The Spark: Rhiannon Names Burn In
Australia: After a soul-nourishing day with her family, Rhiannon came up with the term Burn In — the opposite of burnout and a way to describe feeling alive and aligned.
She knew this wasn’t just a phrase, but the beginning of a model that could guide people back to themselves. With rates of burnout rising across the world, she felt a clear pull to create a new path forward — one that helps people Burn In, Not Out.
Mid 2023
Meanwhile, Michelle’s Flame Metaphor
United States: Around the same period, Michelle had been privately journalling about the image of a flame — what it means to dim, reignite, and rekindle one’s inner fire.
At the time, they didn’t know it yet, but they were exploring complementary pieces of the same human experience from opposite sides of the world.
September 2024
An Invitation to the OT Community
Rhiannon sent an email inviting occupational therapists from around the world to help shape an emerging conceptual model she named The Burn In Model©.
Michelle was among the first to reply, instantly recognizing the resonance between her fire-based metaphor and Rhiannon’s language.
Early 2025
Co-Creation and Concept Refinement
As The Burn In Model© evolved, Rhiannon and Michelle continued refining and validating it together through:
Mapping reviews of empirical research on burnout and job satisfaction
Focus groups with occupational therapists practicing in diverse settings across the world
Deep dives into occupational science, psychology, burnout, and wellbeing literature
Daily brainstorms and dialogue
What began as a shared curiosity became a rigorous, collaborative development process — and The Burn In Model© was formally co-created.
Mid-Late 2025
A Model Ready for the World
By the end of 2025, The Burn In Model© had been piloted in clinical practice, coaching, supervision, and personal development, then shared through keynotes, team workshops, and training.
People immediately recognized themselves in the metaphor. The Burn In Model© gave language to experiences they had felt but never named.
And the Burn In movement began.
October-November 2024
An Eight-Week Global Collaboration
Beginning in October 2024, Rhiannon facilitated an eight-week global collaboration of occupational therapists who helped clarify and build upon the early Burn In concept through lived experience, literature reviews, and professional expertise.
After the group finished, Rhiannon and Michelle stayed in close communication, exchanging ideas through constant voice notes, weekly Zoom calls. It quickly became clear that they were deeply aligned in vision and approach, and that our perspectives strengthened the work.
What began as collaboration naturally became a shared creative partnership, shaping the foundations of what would become The Burn In Model©.
The Burn In Newsletter
IDEAS THAT IGNITE
Join a global community of individuals and organizations choosing to Burn In, Not Out. We’ll share honest reflections, real stories and research-backed practical ways to stay aligned in how you live, lead and work.