Executive and leadership coach Ju Macedo shares how The Neuroscience School transformed her coaching practice—and her clients’ results. Discover the brain-based tools that help her reduce burnout, spark behavior change, and create sustainable performance. Learn how small shifts lead to big results.

In each episode of Neuroscience of Coaching, host Dr. Irena O’Brien explains the science-based insights behind a particular concept and interviews a coach to discuss how these apply in the real world. Just as she does in her professional programs, Irena “un-complicates” neuroscience and teaches practical, evidence-based tools and strategies that listeners can use in their coaching practices.

“This work didn’t just improve my coaching—it transformed how I lead, how I step-parent, how I run, and how I show up for myself.”

— Juliana Macedo

Juliana Macedo is an ICF-accredited Executive and Leadership Coach and the founder of The Long Game Mindset Coaching & Consultancy.

Following a two-decade career as a marketing executive in global companies like Reckitt, Nestlé, Mondelez, Unilever, and PepsiCo, Juliana now helps ambitious leaders achieve sustainable high performance and lead systemic change without burning out.

Her approach blends sharp business acumen, the neuroscience of behaviour change, and the mindset of a high-performance athlete.

She is ICF-accredited, holds an MBA, a Postgraduate Certificate in Executive Coaching for Behavioural Change from Henley Business School (UK), and multiple certifications in Applied Neuroscience for Coaching, Leadership Development and Agile Change & Psychodrama. Originally from Brazil, she is based in the UK, working globally in English, Portuguese, and Italian.

She first discovered applied neuroscience in this very podcast, which inspired her to certify with The Neuroscience School — knowledge she now applies daily with her clients, teams, and even in how she trains and runs marathons.

Dr. Irena O’Brien teaches coaches and care professionals how to achieve better results for their clients through neuroscience.

She is the founder of Neuroscience School, which helps practitioners understand and apply insights from cutting-edge neuroscience research. She loves seeing her students gain confidence in their ability to evaluate neuroscience findings and use them successfully in their own practices. Her Certificate Program in Neuroscience is certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for Continuing Coaching Education credit.

Dr. O’Brien has studied neuroscience for 25 years and holds a Ph.D. in the field from the Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM), where she did brain-imaging studies. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Language, Mind, and Brain at McGill University.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Mirasee
Dr. Irena O’Brien’s website: The Neuroscience School
Juliana’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/juliana-macedo-the-long-game-mindset-coach-acc-34a12625/
Episode with guest Lion Goodman (The Predictive Brain):
YouTube – Leveraging the Predictive Brain (Lion Goodman) – Neuroscience of Coaching #3
Mirasee FM – Episode 3: Leveraging the Predictive Brain (Lion Goodman)

Credits:
Host: Dr. Irena O’Brien
Producer: Andrew Chapman
Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario
Executive Producer: Danny Iny
Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely
Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio

Music credits:

Track Title: Sneaker Smeaker
Artist: Avocado Junkie
Writer: Sander Kalmeijer
Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: Coo Coos
Artist: Dresden, The Flamingo
Writer: Matthew Wigton
Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Track Title: In This Light
Artist: Sounds Like Sander
Writer: Sander Kalmeijer
Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

Special effects credits:
24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market.

To catch the great episodes coming up on Neuroscience of Coaching, please follow us on Mirasee FM’s YouTube channel or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It’s the best way to help us get these ideas to more people.