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North East business leaders have been treated to an inspiring talk on how to live a positive life, at an event hosted by Teesside University.

Emma Lawton, a blogger, entrepreneur and stand-up comedian, spoke at the latest Business Exchange about how a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease inspired her to change her attitude to living life.

Emma was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 29 and made it her mission to raise awareness of the condition while embarking on a whole series of new experiences.

She now campaigns and shares her story on social media, has published her own book on dealing with Parkinson’s and recently video blogged her life for 365 days.

Emma is building a health-tech start up as part of the zinc.vc cohort and leads the Devices and Apps project at Parkinson’s UK.

Speaking at the Business Exchange, she told leaders about how her diagnosis helped push her out of her comfort zone.

This year Emma is doing something new every day and blogging about it at www.thef—itlist.com to shine a light on the importance of investing in our own development and happiness.

She also encouraged the audience to “be more human” and not to be afraid to ‘dabble’ in things that sparked their interest to see where they might lead.

Laura Woods, Director of Academic Enterprise, said:

“It was impossible not to be inspired by Emma’s story. She has turned something normally thought of as life-limiting into its exact opposite – a life-expanding opportunity.

“There were lots of lessons to be learned from her own uplifting experiences, which encouraged us all to live life to the fullest But, in particular, Emma’s message that we need to be bold in our ambitions and push ourselves to achieve them, and the example she set, gave everyone real food for thought.”

The Business Exchange is a network of senior leaders from businesses and organisations in the North East and North Yorkshire, with events held at Teesside University’s Centre for Professional and Executive Development in Darlington throughout the year.

For more information on events and services for business at Teesside University click here.

Credit: NE Connected