Brenebrown

Brené Brown's TEDxHouston talk, 'The Power of Vulnerability,' shares findings from her research on human connection, shame, and what it means to feel worthy of love and belonging. It became one of the top five most-viewed TED Talks of all time, introducing millions of people to her argument that vulnerability is a source of courage rather than a sign of weakness.

'Atlas of the Heart' is a multi-part HBO Max docuseries based on Brené Brown's book of the same name, in which she maps 87 emotions and human experiences to help people understand and name what they feel. The series blends her research storytelling with real conversations, and Brown also recorded the audiobook herself around the time of the book's release.

Brené Brown is a qualitative researcher who has spent over two decades studying emotions like shame, vulnerability, empathy, and courage at the University of Houston. Her work centers on what she calls shame resilience — understanding how shame shapes human behavior and how people can build connection and live more wholeheartedly in spite of it.

'Unlocking Us' is Brené Brown's podcast where she has conversations with guests — researchers, artists, and thinkers — about the emotions and experiences that define being human. It launched in 2020 and became one of the most-downloaded new podcasts of that year, drawing directly on her research themes of vulnerability, shame, and connection.

Yes — 'Brené Brown: The Call to Courage' premiered on Netflix in 2019, filmed live before an audience in Los Angeles. In it she talks about the relationship between vulnerability and daring greatly, pulling from her research and her own personal stories in her signature conversational style.

Dare to Lead, published in 2018, applies Brené Brown's core research on vulnerability and shame to the world of organizational leadership, arguing that the most effective leaders are those willing to be open and have hard conversations. It became a bestseller and spawned a companion podcast of the same name aimed at business leaders and managers.

Shame resilience is the central framework of Brené Brown's research — it describes the ability to recognize shame when it surfaces, move through it without letting it define your behavior, and maintain empathy and connection in the process. She draws a sharp distinction between shame (feeling you are bad) and guilt (feeling you did something bad), arguing that building resilience to shame is the foundation of courage and belonging.

Brené Brown splits her time between Houston and Austin, Texas — her social bios describe her as 'HOU + ATX via SATX,' meaning she grew up in San Antonio, built her academic career in Houston, and also calls Austin home. Her Texas identity is a consistent and deliberate part of how she presents herself publicly.

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, where she has been based since the late 1990s and holds an endowed chair. She also founded the Brené Brown Education and Research Group, which extends her work on vulnerability and shame into leadership training and organizational culture.

While she has written multiple bestsellers, 'Daring Greatly' (2012) is widely considered the book that brought her research to a mainstream audience, built around the idea that vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity, belonging, and love. Her more recent 'Atlas of the Heart' (2021) expanded her reach further by becoming the foundation for her HBO Max docuseries.