In this thought-provoking episode of Lykken on Lending, David Lykken sits down with Ellen Petry Leanse—a neuroscience educator, former Apple and Google innovator, and bestselling author—to explore how we can put our brains to work for us instead of against us. Ellen unpacks practical neuroscience tools for self-awareness, emotional regulation, and peak performance—sharing how small daily habits like mindful breathing, reflection, and visualization can rewire our thinking for clarity and calm. From navigating stressful homebuying decisions to achieving real work-life balance, this conversation reveals how understanding your brain is the ultimate leadership and life advantage.
[David] Welcome to today’s podcast. Our guest today is a neuroscience educator, a Silicon Valley innovator, former Stanford University instructor, best-selling author, and transformational coach. Please welcome Ellen Petry Leanse. It’s am I saying that right, Leanse? Is that right?
[Ellen] You said it perfectly. Thank you, David.
[David] Well, Ellen, thank you so much. It’s just so good to have you here. And you are an expert in one of my favorite topics, and that’s neuroscience, the brain. Tell us a little bit about yourself, but specifically, I’m really interested in what you did at Apple, Google, and some of your ventures as an entrepreneur.
[Ellen] Thank you. Well, you know, I think Apple is a good place to start because I was very lucky to have ended up there in the early years, right after I graduated from college. And there I found something that probably set the course not only for everything on my professional journey, but very much my interest in the brain. I had grown up kind of as an artsy kid, but also sort of a nerdy kid. And people were always telling me, teachers and relatives, grown-ups of all sorts, I had to choose. I have to either choose to be in the arts or I needed to choose to be in the sciences and I always felt that they were confused because to me, having both of those in my realm was always just the way I love to live. And the great news is that at Apple I found a place where I could be both very creative and design-oriented while still being very technical. I worked on the product side. And that really set the course for neuroscience for me because it helped me to see how people can get kind of caught in one side of their brain or one form of cognition or the other when there are so many advantages to bringing both parts together.
[David] That’s not always easily done. What do you mean by this, and why is it so important for our listeners to get grab this concept?
[Ellen] Yeah. I do begin with the brain in everything that I do. And I often say when I speak about the brain, begin with the brain, an ancient technology we use to navigate the modern world. So, the brain that we have has been evolving for, you know, I could say hundreds of millions of years. It’s actually much, much longer than that, but in the more directly primate to human to sort of Homo sapiens model, very much about being in environments where we had to be ever vigilant, ever watchful, just simply for survival, and where the motivation and reward systems that really guided our cognition and our mental states were about being both wary and opportunistic. Those technologies, survival technologies, are still with us in the modern world, even though very often the world that we have created demands would be one word, but also invites much more thoughtfulness, integrated thinking, reflection, and collaboration than that more ancient part of our brain really drives, or the ancient aspects of our brain really drive. I think it’s super important for all listeners to realize that at every moment of our perception and of our experience, the brain is both functionally and neurochemically driving us to believe that what it is processing is what is real. And that can often be a little bit confusing for people or off the mark for people because a more ancient and very safety-oriented brain doesn’t always align with the opportunities or even with some of the challenges that we face in modern life.
[David] And so fascinating. One of the things is you talk about is the brain being in charge versus learning to take charge of the brain. That was really interesting to me when we were talking about this because you know we’re taught to be logical beings. We’re emotional beings, we’re all these other things. How do emotions play into this?
[Ellen] So, you know, there are three words that I use often when speaking about the brain, and you never really hear these in neuroscience, but they’re these are the three words. Left to itself. So, left to itself, the brain is simply going to run its survival protocol and its program really of who it thinks we are and what it thinks our life is all about based only on one thing, past experience and that can be past experience that’s been inherited from either our ancient or our recent past, or it can be our own lived experience. Think about this. Your brain is documenting right now new information that’s going to update its formula, its program for what it thinks it needs to do to keep you alive. Brains are always doing that and the code that the brain is running when it’s left to itself is going to be based upon everything that’s kept us alive so far in our lives, whether we like it or not. And that means when that is happening, our brain is simply running its programs based on past experiences, and left to itself, it’s going to lock us into living in that finite world based on reinforcements of past experiences. The brain has a very important function David, and that is to conserve energy. In that ancient survival code, it believes that we might need more energy right now for that saber-toothed tiger that might jump out from behind the family picture I see there on your desk. It’s always wary for that. It wants to reserve as much energy as it can so that you can escape that saber-tooth. And the brain is the hungriest organ in the whole body, and the front of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, which is the most intentional part of the brain, is the hungriest part of that hungry organ. So, the brain tries to reduce the energy flow to that part of the brain and that thus have us just run the left to itself more encoded ways of processing information. So, yeah, and you mentioned emotions, and that’s really interesting. Emotions are the brain’s first responder. Any new information that’s coming into the brain, well, I can’t say any, most new information that’s coming into the brain through any experience that we have, that we have, the brain runs through the emotional processing first to decide if it favors our survival or puts us at risk. You know, what’s the tone? Is it negative or positive? And then how intense? like what’s the amplitude of that experience? And it is going to inform everything else that happens cognitively after the information is passed through that emotional filter.
[David] Very fascinating. So how you know learning to take charge of your brain? A lot of us have thoughts that are rancing through our heads, especially as you know, in the middle of the night, you’re trying to get to sleep or you woke up and you and your brain kicks in, as I oftentimes say. How do we take charge of our brain then?
[Ellen] It’s just great. The first thing you do is, you know, remember, you have never been taught how to take charge of your brain. So of course nobody knows how to do that. So the first thing I want to do for any listener is say, let yourself off the hook. You know, so many people say things like, Oh, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I have a personality that obsesses about thoughts, or I’m always ruminating, and that’s how I am. No, that’s your brain being left to itself because it’s never learned anything differently. So one of the things to do first is remember that the brain will run its own programs, and brains will always do more of whatever they’re doing right now. Let’s think for a moment about the world that we live in. It tends to be very outcome-oriented, very deadline-oriented, very this or that, get it done, you know, sort of linear. So the brain doesn’t really know how to let go of that sometimes, even when we’re sleeping. It’s been so conditioned and rewarded to be on that, you know, if you will, that uh what do you call it, hamster wheel?
[David] Yeah, the hamster wheel.
[Ellen] Exactly. That it’s going to keep on doing that even when we want to sleep. The good news is we can begin practices, and they’re, you know, when we hear people talk about mindfulness practices or meditation practices, all of these things point to having you be more intentional and in charge of your brain. And the way the brain does that is by learning to follow your lead with the intentions you direct with the prefrontal cortex. So that would be a mindset, for example. So you have a mindset, I’m going to stay calm through the course of my day. I’m going to go into this meeting knowing exactly what I need to succeed, so I come out on the other side. If we activate the prefrontal cortex, and for folks who are only listening, I can’t talk about the prefrontal cortex without bringing my fingers up to my forehead, right above my eyebrows, because that’s where this part of the brain resides. And this is the home of our highest human cognition and our intentional ways of thinking. So let’s give an example, David. Before we met, did you spend any moments thinking about questions you might want to make sure we cover in this conversation?
[David] Absolutely, yes, I did.
[Ellen] Then you had activated your prefrontal cortex. And the rest of your brain listened and it knows now that that is your intention, and it’s going to do everything it can to make sure, as long as you keep that intention, that it you meet your needs. So you have taken charge of your brain for this conversation.
[David] Well, you know, this reminds me of the conversation of the gal that introduced us, Kelly Resendez, which I love Kelly. It’s the way she her brain works. You know, it’s obvious you spend a lot of time talking to her about this topic. When you’re talking about taking charge of it per se, you’ve given us some insights into that. I know of people whose brain is just running out of control. And there is it’s that harnessing. Does journaling help doing that? What are some practical tips that really starts allowing people to be able to discipline and wrestle that overactive brain into the into a submitted sense?
[Ellen] Yeah. Well, the first thing I’m gonna do is go in on language because if we see it as a conquest, if we’re saying we’re gonna wrestle it or get it to submit, we are activating things in our emotional system that are about, they’re kind of more things like go for the fight. And that is, by definition, going to change the neurochemistry and change the nature of the intention. So I find myself getting curious, what can we do to work with our brains? What can we do to bring our brain into a more harmonious state for problem solving and so forth? Now you’re in a very different sort of neurochemistry and emotional charge that is going to, you know, at least theoretically, but you know, I think we could we could back this up with research, say that the brain will be more, less defensive and less on guard, which will take it a little bit more out of that attack mode that so many of us are living in. So, there are a couple of ways to do this, both short term and long term. The best way short term is with breath. Because when the brain is under any sort of threat response or any sort of sort of emotional hijack, it actually sends out chemicals that are reducing the flow of oxygen to the prefrontal cortex.
[David] Really?
[Ellen] Yes. So I told you before that the um the brain is a cheapskate, right? It’s very much about energy efficiency. And I also told you this is the most energy hungry part of the brain. If you’re in any sort of threat, it thinks you need to do something to survive. So it’s not going to bring your highest human cognition online.
[David] Interesting.
[Ellen] So one breath can bring more oxygen into the body and into the brain, which allows more flow of oxygen to the prefrontal cortex. The minute that prefrontal cortex starts getting more oxygen, it has more capacity to come online. So, you know, I love to say ABC. When we find ourselves getting hijacked or we go, wait, I can’t stop spinning, I can’t stop thinking. A, awareness. Ah, I’m aware. Something is something is different than I want it to be. Then B, breath. One breath brings more oxygen into the brain, and also the action of the brain in its mapping is very different on an inhale than it is on an exhale. So one deliberate breath actually brings more brain online, and then the exhale can help us focus. And then the C, because I said ABC, awareness, breath, and curiosity. Gather more information. Why am I feeling like this right now? Oh, I know. It’s because I’m on a deadline and I haven’t thought it through. Or what do I need to know to provide a better response than the reaction my brain was pointing me to? So those are short term, A, B, C, using the breath. Longer term, there are a couple of practices, uh, David. We already mentioned mindfulness and meditation practices, but you brought up journaling. Anything that is a reflective practice is going to activate bigger picture ways of thinking, generally associated with functions in the right hemisphere, and allow the brain to come into more balance. Reflection is a really important word, and I want you to think about the typical day of your listeners or pretty much, you know, most people in society right now. Who is building time into their days for reflection these days? Fewer and fewer people. But any meditative, reflective, even spiritual practices. Some people do things like walking a labyrinth or something like that. All of these are going to be activating different potentialities in the brain in a way that because your brain does more of whatever it’s doing right now, with time can allow the brain to function in very different ways.
[David] That is just so fascinating, especially as you started thinking. I was just at a place at a labyrinth this weekend, I went and walked it, and I’d go like, man, this is just there’s something that’s just settling about that as I went through the various stages of it.
[Ellen] Well, but I want to ask you, what did you experience as you walked in that labyrinth?
[David]: First of all, my brain tried to figure it out. I mean, I I made my brain kicked in and going, okay, we have what’s this about? How’s this go? And then I just started walking it, and I found there was just a relaxation that came and a more of a meditative type attitude or a frame of mind, I guess, or mindset that came into it. And by the time I got to the bench where I seated, sat myself down afterwards, I was just like, I was breathing differently. It was just quite quite amazing.
[Ellen] So by the way, can I go in on that? That is a wonderful story. So your brain went into it saying, Here I am, David, I’m in that new situation. I approach new situations like we all do. What do I need to figure out? What do I need to do? So the brain is supporting you, left to itself, it’s doing that. Then, as your body and of course your nervous system and all sorts of other things came into flow, I’ll bet your breath and your heart rate slowed down before you knew it. Now there’s more blossoming in the brain that allows new types of thought, new types of reflection. So congratulations, you did some neuroscience.
[David] Yeah, well, I that was I it was quite by accident. We talk about the frontal cortex. You talk about the frontal cortex. It’s oftentimes the latest stage of your brain in the brain development, if I understand correctly. Why is this? I mean, is do you have any I mean, does neuroscience give us any insights into this?
[Ellen] Oh, a lot. So, and uh I mean that’s a whole podcast episode onto itself because it’s so fascinating. So, one way to think about the brain is that evolution guided its development from the very back here, you know, the more associated with the spinal column. These tend to be very survival-oriented things. And then getting up to the sensing, and by the way, this is a lot more, this is in vertebrate development. This is going back hundreds and hundreds of millions of years. But next came sensing, like the sight organs, the you know, listening and so forth. This part is in the front. The brain tends to, the brain kind of developed from back to front over these hundreds of millions of years. So this is the newest and most uniquely human part. Now we could go out and look at orcas or hamsters or any primate, you know, even goldfish, even birds, they’re all going to have their own version of what is called invertebrates, the prefrontal cortex. But all of these are as uniquely suited for their niche in the environment and what it takes for them to survive as it is in the human brain. But in a fast-paced culture like we live in now, the brain doesn’t often doesn’t naturally let this come online in the way that probably would serve us best of all.
[David] Interesting. So fascinating. Let’s get this now into the world of mortgages because we’re in the mortgage industry. Buying a home and getting a mortgage or even a refinance is one of the most emotionally charged transactions. It’s interesting we’re talking about motions, we’re talking about neuroscience, and we’re talking about motions, and they are connected. But consumers go through. What’s your advice to real estate professionals and others in navigating this emotional intense transaction?
[Ellen] Well, that’s a great question. What’s coming to mind for me is the times that I’ve bought a home. You know, I’ve done that a couple of times. And it is very emotionally charged because, first of all, you’re managing a lot of complex information. You’re probably that brain left to itself is going, like, ah, I’m overwhelmed. There’s also financial pressure. Very often there’s getting, you know, things about getting a partner or a spouse or even a family to sort of buy into this notion of everything that it’s going to take to move. So I’m curious, do you think that very often these people who are buying homes show up in a highly charged emotional space?
[David] Oh, yeah.
[Ellen] Yeah. Yeah. What would that sound like? What might they say?
[David] Oh, there’s a lot of them are just there’s anxiety, and it could show up in so many ways that but related to the nature and the per makeup of the individual. Some become are very direct. So if they’re more of a choleric personality type, they’re gonna be very direct and more aggressive. And then if you’re using a sanguine type personality, they’re gonna be a lot more talkative, and they may be using they’re nervous, so they’re using a whole lot of words, which sanguines have a tendency to do. And so and a phlegmatic’s gonna approach it with a much more inquisitive, but they may be coming with more analytical. So in other words, I think it’s amping up whatever your personality type is. They bring that is what totally makes sense.
[Ellen] Yeah. Then I’ll bet you that when these that you’re well prepared, the people who are, you know, are listening to this, they know their business well. So I’ll bet when those people come in and they’re in that sort of fight or flight mode for nothing else.
[David] Yeah, fight or flight’s a good way to put it, yeah.
[Ellen] Yeah. I’ll bet your your professionals are coming back with really clear and good answers that are disappointed.
[David] Yeah.
[Ellen] Okay, good, but you know what? There could be a problem there. Because the client is coming at an emotional level, and the professional is coming in and offering, answering on a logical level. And emotions and logic, well, how often do we see those two get along, right? Not too often. So this makes me curious, David, and I wonder what might be possible when a client is being emotional and whether they’re filling air with noise, you know, just ah, you know, using words to process their own thoughts, or they’re being combative or argumentative, or whatever else is going on that shows they’re in an emotionally charged state. What I think your professionals could do at that time is acknowledge the emotions. Because once that happens, it can allow that fight or flight response to soften even a little bit and create a new wedge where the logic could come in after that. So a person comes in and they’re like, I don’t think we can make it, you know, I’ve been talking to this and I don’t know, and I don’t think we can make the timing work or whatever they’re doing. If all your professional does is come in and say, Yeah, it’s a really hard thing, isn’t it? It’s complicated. All of a sudden you’re taking some of that fight or flight offline, and then just with a little bit of breath, and by the way, we humans don’t really understand how much information we exchange with each other. If your professionals were to use breath to stay very present at that time, I believe that alone could have an influence on an emotionally hijacked or reactive person. I’m also going to share one of the best questions that, and I learned it from another coach out there, and I just I love it. When a person is in a highly charged emotional state and they’re sort of losing it in whatever way, a great question is to ask, what would great be? And it allows people to switch gears mentally and come into more of an intentional prefrontal cortex vision, you know, that where they might be able to say what they want. I just want my partner to agree that this is the right house for us to get. I just want to make sure that my commute isn’t gonna be terrible once I move to this new neighborhood. I want my kids to make friends at school, whatever it is, they’re naming what great would be. Now you can be on the same team with that person and optimize for that, does it add up?
[David] Yeah, that that totally adds up. So there’s a certain amount of empathic skill set that’s required here, and those that are more interested, that are they’re more skilled, and I’m finding it have a degree of empathy and more empathic in their approach. This this really leads into work-life balance. Yeah, that’s something you talk a lot about, and it’s the holy grail for a lot of working professionals. If you could get into this whole work balance, because I’ve struggled with that all my all my life.
[Ellen] Well, this could get into a long, longer conversation, but one of the things we have to remember is in our culture, people are really validated, and, you know, really our sense of identity is wrapped up in what we do. Not so much who we are, but what we do. You know, think about countless rooms you’ve walked into when you’re meeting people for the first time. The first question they ask is, what do you do? And we’re all sort of positioning ourselves through that doing sort of thing. And if you look at the even activities that we choose, you know, we’re going on fabulous ski vacations, or we’re collecting something, or we’re training for a marathon, or whatever we’re doing. We’re really into that sort of linear pursuit of outcomes, that doing, doing, doing. And remember, your brain will do more of whatever it’s doing right now. So your brain thinks that’s how you should be all the time. So what I encourage my clients, and you know, sometimes I speak about it, other people to do is begin with life. What is the purpose of your life? You know, when I look at the real estate of the brain and also look at timeless human ways of living, there are relationships, those are very important, contribution, which is you know work, and growth, learning, becoming a better person, the things that your listeners are doing right now. They’re looking to grow and improve themselves, right?
[David] Yeah.
[Ellen] Yeah. So start with life, my relationships, the nature of my contribution, and how I wish to grow. And then fit, start, that’s your balance, is how you make those things work. And then how does work fit into it? So if I’m prioritizing my balance for relationships, contribution, and growth, and I’m intentional about it, maybe I think about it as I wake up in the morning, I’m gonna make sure I have time to talk to my kids when I get home at night or with my partner, or walk my dog, you know, and just say these can or see my friends, right? Connections. How does my work fit in with that? my profession, like how do I want to be really good at what I do, and what place do I want my work consciously to play in my life? And then growth. What am I learning today? What is the hobby I’m developing? What is the next thing I want to read or study? So beginning with if we look at work-life balance, invert it. Start with life work balance. Find small ways to get the work to fit in with the life. And you know, David, it’s counterintuitive. But I’ve been a C-level executive at a big technology company, I’ve been a founder, I’ve managed people over the years. The ones who lead with life, but with a real commitment to being excellent in their work, but keeping having their life check that they don’t burn out, right? They don’t get into the drama, the drama, and the squabbles. They are in, they’re balanced. Now, I do have one thing that everybody should do because this is one of the I can’t say shortcuts, but one of the sure paths to bringing more work, more balance into your life. Do you know that something like 87% of American adults pick up their phone when they wake up in the morning? Yes. The first thing they do in the morning. I’m trying not to.
[David] I’m trying not to.
[Ellen] Okay. Well, we’ll go into, we’ll play with that in a minute. But the first thing they do is they look at their phone. The first message their brain gets in the morning is, okay, this is what my day’s gonna be like. It’s gonna be on. It’s gonna you cannot have work-life balance if that’s how you begin your day. So my admonition, my suggestion is for the first 20 minutes of every day, and there does seem to be some magic in that 20 minutes. It seems like a number that’s sort of a sweet spot. Do anything but use your phone. Your phone can there isn’t a single email waiting in there. Can’t wait 20 minutes. So I do use my what’s that?
[David] That’s a really good point.
[Ellen] Yeah, I can wait, but the mind is so conditioned to get the reward of this. I do use my alarm on the phone. I turn it off in the morning, one button stop, and then I do not touch that thing until after I’ve had my, I love coffee, after I’ve had my coffee, after I’ve done some stretching, and then I go over to it with a very different and much more intentional mindset than I would have if I’d let it take me over. Now, if you really want to do it, follow the same rule at night. The first 20 minutes, the last 20 minutes, anything but your phone or your your laptop. And then, David, one more thing.
[David] Is it the light? Because there’s the the blue light is a factor. I’ve heard that as well.
[Ellen] I think it’s I you know, I told you the left hemisphere and really the way we live is linear pursuit of outcomes. There is an answer, and I’m gonna get it. I want it now, all of this. You’re pointing your brain toward that sense of urgency that inherently throws things out of balance. Then I would also say that if you really want to double down on it, even putting your phone facing down in a meeting rather than up changes everything in your mental realm. It actually, the some of the research shows that if your phone is up, you’re going to be distracted every at least every six minutes. If your phone is down, you’re closer to 11 minutes. That’s the difference. And then if you put it down and you get to 11 minutes, push it away. Maybe you’ll get to 12. Maybe you’ll get to 15. Like bringing back our ability to be present and not hijacked by all that’s going on around us is a big part of taking charge of your brain.
[David] That’s I mean, this is such a fun topic. Let’s talk about one of the books you’ve written. You’ve one book or how many books have you written? You know, I’ve written two books.
[Ellen] I wrote a book when I was yeah, back in the 80s at Apple, I wrote a book. Um, at Apple, I such a great story, like such good fortune for me. But I launched the world’s first public-facing online community. So I brought Apple online in 1985, making it the first company in history to have it, you know, it wasn’t such an honor. It was all I do was like plug a modem into a cable and boom, it happened. Like we didn’t know what we were doing, but it worked out great, you know?
[David] No kidding.
[Ellen] But I wrote a book about how to build digital, like digital communities, public-facing online communities. But that was back in the 80s. And I have one copy of that book in a box in my attic somewhere, and I’m gonna have to go back and read it for nostalgia’s sake, because think of how much in the world has changed since then.
[David] Oh, yeah.
[Ellen] But the second book that I wrote is called Um The Happiness Hack, and the subtitle is Take Charge of Your Brain and Bring More Happiness to Your Life. And this book was written in 2017, I believe, and it was really as mobile technologies were becoming ubiquitous and more and More people were living like this, you know, and constant expert and that were like this. I have my phone in front of my face.
[David] Yes, yes, yes.
[Ellen] So many experiments about what that’s done to our attention, our focus, and even to our moods. And that book is about both timeless wisdom, about cultivating a healthy mindset, but also things we can do right here, right now in this culture to create healthier relationships between us and our technology.
[David] Fantastic. I mean, it’s just great information. You know, when you go back and you’re working, go back to the topic of our home financing experience. What are some tips that you would suggest for people to help relieve their consumers’ anxiety, bring them down a nudge? Because it is the most emotional transaction most consumers are going through.
[Ellen] Boy, I wish I had a you know ding-ding-ding answer for you. I have to go back to um sort of two kind of core concepts, and one of them is really getting them to think about what great would be. So let’s say they come back, well, what would great be? You know, my you know, I want my son to make the new soccer team, or I want my daughter to, you know, get win the science fair, you know, whatever it is, or I want to make sure that I make new friends in this neighborhood, you know, all of this. Really work with what the great thing would be like. Wow, it’s really interesting to think about building a community or about the opportunities as you move to this better school district or whatever else. But the other thing, hmm, is I always go back to a big picture. And I don’t quite have to really think for a moment.
[David] Really good. I think it’s good for me, for what I found successful is helping them anchor on the why are they doing this transaction, get to their why.
[Ellen] Good. The why is great. There’s something else too, and that is, you know, if it’s good enough for Olympic athletes, I guess it’s good enough for anybody else, and that is visualization. So, you know, even I wonder if you say, you know, when you see yourself walking through the neighborhood, what feels what feels great to you? Oh, I love the way the trees line the street, or I love how the building is energy efficient or whatever it is. Get them talking about the bigger picture of what they seek. You know, if they’re planning to live there for a long time, just you know, how do you how do you think you’ll celebrate your holidays there? Things like get them to visualize like an athlete. Remember, David, everything we do changes the brain. Your brains and mind have changed in this conversation. Your brain now has an updated map, as does mine, of what we can do to stay safe and alive. And so lift up the potentiality that the client can see. Help them go into a visualization of something that they’re, I mean, they they probably want to buy this house. They probably made the decision to seek something else. Even if they’re downsizing or something, they want less pressure, less work. Let’s talk about the positive motivators and get them to visualize that. And here’s another little first of all, ask them, what would that, you know, what do you what do you see when you look at your house during the holidays? Something like that. Get them to see it. Here’s another thing, too, is um, oh, it was right there after the what do they see. Well, I guess that was the key point. Like, oh, visualizing it as if they were an athlete and really getting them to come much more into a sensory or embodied experience rather than a spinning thought experience, you’re going to change everything in their neurochemistry and their sensations they’re feeling.
[David] Yeah, fascinating topic. Neuroscience is just one of my favorite, favorite topics and getting into it, understanding it. How can people connect with you? Do you have podcasts? Do you have uh videos out there, Ellen? How do people learn more about you?
[Ellen] I do have a podcast. It’s called The Brain and Beyond. I’ve been on hiatus for a couple of months because I was working on a very large project here in the city where I live in New Mexico. So that took a lot of my effort for the last three and a half months. But um my website is ellenleanse.com, and I’m pretty easy to find. My TEDx talks are pretty available online.
[David] And I loved your TEDx talk. I encourage them. In fact, we’ll put a link to your TEDx talk uh in our show notes for them today so people could click on it and connect with you. It’s it’s just uh I I look at how fast the time goes. This is my favorite topic. Ellen, I want to say thank you so much for coming on and sharing your knowledge and insights into this very fascinating topic. And it does play into everything we do. And I love the idea. Challenge our listeners to start, you start controlling your brain. You take control of it. It is so important. It begins with your brain, but it begins with you the effort of ch taking charge. Very good.
[Ellen] 100%. Thank you, David. Thank you so much. Looking forward to having you back. I just love this topic. I’d be honored. Thank you.
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Neuroscience educator, Silicon Valley innovator, former Stanford University instructor, bestselling author, and transformational coach: Ellen Petry Leanse has catalyzed positive change in professional and personal settings across her life’s work.
At Apple, Google, and as an entrepreneur, she cultivated breakthrough ways of elevating success through her change-making approach to psychology and interpersonal dynamics. An award-winning leader, professional and life coach, former C-level executive, and keynote speaker, Ellen grounds her work in a deep understanding of the brain, a topic she explores as the host of The Brain and Beyond Podcast. Her knowledge of neuroscience, human history, and timeless wisdom offers unique ways of understanding the high stakes of this moment in time – and new paths to hope for the future. The parent of three adult sons, she lives in Northern New Mexico, where she savors the rich history of the land and its people.