Casandra Brené Brown (born November 18, 1965) is an American professor, author, and podcast host. Brown is known for her work on shame, vulnerability, and leadership, and for her widely viewed TEDx talk in 2010. She has written six number-one New York Times bestselling books and hosted two podcasts on Spotify.

She appears on the 2019 documentary, Brené Brown: The Call to Courage, on Netflix. In 2022, HBO Max released a documentary series based on her book, Atlas of the Heart.

Brown holds the Huffington Foundation's Brené Brown Endowed Chair at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work and is a visiting professor in management at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

Early life and education
Brown was born on November 18, 1965, in San Antonio, Texas, where her parents Charles Arthur Brown and Casandra Deanne Rogers had her baptized in the Episcopal Church. She is the eldest of four children. Her family then moved to New Orleans.

Brown completed a Bachelor of Social Work degree at the University of Texas at Austin in 1995, followed by a Master of Social Work degree in 1996, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in social work at the University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work in 2002.

Career

Research and teaching 
Brown has studied the topics of courage, vulnerability, shame, empathy, and leadership, which she has used to look at human connection and how it works. She has spent her research career as a professor at her alma mater, the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work.

Public speaking 
Brown's TEDx talk from Houston in 2010, "The Power of Vulnerability", is one of the five most viewed TED talks. Its popularity shifted her work from relative obscurity in academia into the mainstream spotlight. The talk "summarizes a decade of Brown's research on shame, framing her weightiest discoveries in self-deprecating and personal terms." Reggie Ugwu for The New York Times said that this event gave the world "a new star of social psychology."  She went on to follow this popular TED talk with another titled "Listening to Shame" in 2012. In the second talk she talks about how her life has changed since the first talk and explains the connection between shame and vulnerability, building on the thesis of her first TED talk.

She also has a less well-known talk from 2010 given at TEDxKC titled "The Price of Invulnerability." In it she explains that when numbing hard and difficult feelings, essentially feeling vulnerable, we also numb positive emotions, like joy. This led to the creation of her filmed lecture, Brené Brown: The Call to Courage, which debuted on Netflix in 2019. USA Today called it "a mix of a motivational speech and stand-up comedy special." Brown discusses how and why to choose courage over comfort, equating being brave to being vulnerable. According to her research, doing this opens people to love, joy, and belonging by allowing them to better know themselves and more deeply connect with other people.

Brown regularly works as a public speaker at private events and businesses, such as at Alain de Botton's School of Life and at Google and Disney.

Writing 
She is, as of 2021, the author of six number-one New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, Dare to Lead, and Atlas of the Heart. She discussed Daring Greatly with Oprah Winfrey on Super Soul Sunday in March 2013. The book's title comes from a 1910 Theodore Roosevelt speech, "Citizenship in a Republic", given at the Sorbonne. Her most recent work, Atlas of the Heart, was published in November 2021, with the goal of helping readers expand their emotional vocabulary—the language they have to communicate their feelings.

Brown wrote a chapter of advice in Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans. With Tarana Burke, she co-created You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience, an anthology of essays by Black individuals discussing the trauma of white supremacy as well as the experiences of Black love and Black life.

Podcasting 
In 2020, Brown began hosting the Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead podcasts. Unlocking Us alternates between interviews with guests and solo episodes where Brown talks alone, directly to listeners. In solo episodes, she tells stories from her life, explains learnings from her research, and supplements it with summaries of other related social science work. Interview guests have included grief expert David Kessler, singer Alicia Keys, writer Glennon Doyle, and activist Tarana Burke who started the Me Too movement.

In 2022, Brown's interview with Debbie Millman was featured on the Storybound season 5 premiere.

Other work 
Brown is CEO of "The Daring Way", a professional training and certification program on the topics of vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy. She appeared as herself in the movie Wine Country. Her five-part docuseries, Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart, was released on HBO Max in 2022.

Personal life 
Brown and her husband, Dr. Steve Alley, have two children. The family lives in Houston, Texas.

Though she was baptized in the Episcopal Church, her family raised her as a Catholic. She later left the Catholic Church and returned to the Episcopal community with her husband and children two decades later.

During her time in higher education, Brown has described addiction to a combination of alcohol, smoking, emotional eating and an addiction to control. Brown stopped drinking and smoking on May 12, 1996, one day after her master's program graduation. She has been sober since then and often talks about the positive impact of that on her life.

Selected works 
 "Feminist Standpoint Theory" and "Shame Resilience Theory." In S. P. Robbins, P. Chatterjee & E. R. Canda (Eds.), Contemporary human behavior theory: A Critical Perspective for Social Work. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 560 pp.  Published 2007.
 I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn't): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy and Power. Avery. 336 pp.  (2007)
 Connections: A 12-Session Psychoeducational Shame-Resilience Curriculum. Center City, MN: Hazelden.  (2009)
 The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. Center City, MN: Hazelden. 160 pp.  (2010)
 Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead. New York City: Gotham. 320 pp.  (2012)
 Rising Strong: The Reckoning, the Rumble, the Revolution. Spiegel & Grau, now Random House. 352 pp.  (2015)
 Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone. Random House. 208 pp.  (2017)
 Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House. 320 pp.  (2018)
 The Gifts of Imperfection (10th Anniversary Edition). 256 pp.  (2020)
 Atlas of the Heart. Random House. 336pp.  (2021)

Honors and awards
In 2009 Houston Woman Magazine voted Brown one of the city's most influential women. She has also received teaching awards, including the Graduate College of Social Work's Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2016, the Huffington Foundation pledged $2 million over four years to endow a research chair in her name at the Graduate College of Social Work, where she guides the training of social work students in grounded theory methodology and in her research into vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy. In 2021, her podcast Unlocking Us won the  iHeartRadio Podcast Award for Best Advice or Inspirational Podcast. In 2022, her book Atlas of the Heart won the Goodreads Choice award for Best Nonfiction.

References

External links 

 
 Brené Brown's TED Talk on The Power of Vulnerability.
 

1965 births
21st-century American Episcopalians
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
Academics from Houston
American motivational writers
American women non-fiction writers
Anglican scholars
Christians from Texas
Living people
People from Harris County, Texas
University of Houston alumni
University of Houston faculty
University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work alumni
Writers from San Antonio
Women motivational writers
American women academics
American self-help writers
American psychology writers
American women podcasters
American podcasters
American social workers
American social psychologists
브레네 브라운(Brené Brown)은 연구원이자 작가이며 또한 교수이다. 휴스턴 대학 사회복지대학원(the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.)에서 ‘전심전력’(wholeheartedness)을 연구했다. 더불어 ‘전심전력’을 행하는 데 방해나 도움이 되는 여러 감정, 예를 들어 부끄러움(shame), 용기(courage), 진실됨(authenticity), 약함(vulnerability)을 연구했다.

생애와 교육 
브레네 브라운은 휴스턴 대학 사회복지 대학원(the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work)에서 지난 10년 부끄러움(shame), 용기(courage), 진실됨(authenticity), 그리고 약함(vulnerability)에 대한 연구를 했다. 10년 연구 중 첫 5년은 부끄러움(shame)과 동감(empathy)에 집중하다가 막바지에 ‘전심전력’(wholeheartedness)이라는 개념에 대한 총체적인 연구로 방향을 바꿨다. 현재 휴스턴에서 남편 스티브(Steve)와 두 아이 엘렌(Ellen), 찰리(Charlie)와 산다.

연구 
‘전심전력’(wholeheartedness)은 다음과 같은 질문에 대한 대답에서 출발한다.

진실성과 자기 가치관에 바탕을 둔 삶을 영위하려면 어떻게 해야 하는가? 불완전함을 받아들이고 우리가 부족함 없는 존재, 사랑, 소속감, 기쁨을 누릴 자격이 있는 존재임을 깨닫는 데 필요한 용기, 동정, 유대감을 발달시키려면 어떻게 해야하는가?

사람들이 살아가는 과정에서 느끼는 부끄러움이나 불안감에 대한 연구로 시작하였다. 그 과정에서 수많은 사람들의 부끄러운 경험에 대한 이야기나 그것을 극복한 사례 등을 수집하게 된다. 수년간의 자료 수집과 분석 그리고 해석을 통해 결국 이 모든 부정적인 사람들의 감정에 대한 심도 깊은 연구의 방향을 찾게 된다. 사람들의 가장 기본적인 욕구인 남으로부터 사랑받는 것과 유대감 형성을 잘하는 이와 그렇지 못한 이의 근본적인 차이를 밝히는 것을 약 10년간의 연구의 마지막 도착점으로 삼는다. 잘하는 사람들을 하나로 묶는 공통적인 특징은 ‘전심전력’(wholeheartedness)의 실천이다. ‘전심전력’(wholeheartedness)이라는 개념은 브레네 브라운이 처음 정의 내리고 다듬은 것으로 이를 위해 할 것과 해야 하지 말아야 할 것은 다음과 같다.

 해야 할 것: 쉬기(rest), 놀기(play), 믿기(trust), 신념(faith), 직관(intuition), 희망(hope), 진실됨(authenticity), 사랑(love), 유대감(belonging), 즐거움(joy), 감사(gratitude), 창의성(creativity) 하지 말아야 할 것: 완벽주의(perfection), 무감각(numb), 확실함(certainty), 지침(exhaustion), 자급자족(self-sufficiency), 가볍게 넘기기(being cool), 나를 끼워 맞춰가는 어울림(fitting in), 판단하기(judgment), 그리고 희소성(scarcity)

업적 
브레네 브라운은 2008년 휴스턴 알코올 및 마약 협의회의 행동 건강 상임학자로 임명되었다. 여러 교육자 상도 받고 뛰어난 대학 교육자 상(The College’s Outstanding Faculty Award)도 받았다. 저명한 연설가이기도 하며 PBS, NRP, 그리고 CNN같은 언론방송에 나왔고 TED.com에서는 두 번의 스피치를 했고, 동영상은 조회수가 매우 많다. <Self>나 <Elle>같은 잡지에 글을 싣기도 하였다. <Houston Women Magazine>은 “2009년에 가장 영향력 있는 50인의 여성” 중 한 명으로 선정했다.

출판 
 <<나만 그렇다고 생각했다(하지만 그렇지 않았다): 완벽주의, 불충분, 힘의 진실에 관한 이야기>> (고담, 2007)
 <<온 마음을 다한: 무너지고, 성장하고, 기쁨을 찾는 영적 모험>> (헤이즐덴, 근간)
 <<불완전함의 선물>> (헤이즐덴, 2010)
 <<유대감>>
 <<마음가면>>
 <<진정한 나로 살아갈 용기>>

불완전함의 선물에 대해서 
브레네 브라운의 약 십년간의 연구의 산물이 있다면 그것은 사람이라면 모두 공통적으로 갖는, 그러나 여태까지 그 누구도 선뜻 나서서 연구하려고 해보지 않은, 부끄러움, 수치심, 불안함, 죄책감과 같은 감정들을 우리 모두가 더 잘 이해할 수 있도록 세상에 기여를 했다는 데에 있다. 2010년 사람들이 감정 기복에 현명하게 대처하고 앞으로 나아갈 수 있도록 돕고자 실천적인 내용과 일화를 담은 <<불완전함의 선물>>이라는 책을 출판하게 된다.

기본적으로 이 책에서 다음과 같은 이정표를 제시한다.

 진실성을 계발하라: ‘다른 사람들은 어떻게 생각할까?’에서 벗어나기
 자기동정을 계발하라: 완벽주의에서 벗어나기
 극복력을 계발하라: 감정 마비와 무력감에서 벗어나기
 감사와 기쁨을 계발하라: 어둠에 대한 두려움과 결핍감에서 벗어나기
 직감을 계발하고 믿음에 의지하라: 확실성에 대한 욕구에서 벗어나기
 창조성을 계발하라: 비교에서 벗어나기
 놀이와 휴식을 장려하라: 지위 상징으로서의 피로와 자부심을 위한 생산성에서 벗어나기
 차분함과 고요함을 계발하라: 생활습관이 된 불안에서 벗어나기
 의미 있는 일에 전념하라: 자기의심 및 “-해야 한다”에서 벗어나기
 웃음, 노래, 춤을 즐겨라: “항상 절제된” 멋진 모습에서 벗어나기

각주

외부 링크 
 브렌 브라운 개인 홈페이지
 브렌 브라운 블로그
 브렌 브라운 페이스북 페이지
 브렌 브라운 테드 토크1 
 브렌 브라운 테드 토크2 

살아있는 사람
휴스턴 대학교 동문
미국의 작가
텍사스 대학교 오스틴 동문
휴스턴 대학교 교수