I’m Jodie Steele, founder of Neurotalks

A trauma informed speaker, consultant and lived experience strategist helping organisations build high performing cultures that do not come at the expense of people’s health, identity or humanity.

I work with organisations that want to move beyond surface level wellbeing and tick box inclusion into something more meaningful. Neuroinclusive environments where people can contribute sustainably, communicate openly and perform at their best.

This work supports retention, reduces burnout related loss, and helps high performers stay and thrive within your organisation.

My work sits at the intersection of neurodiversity, hidden disability, burnout, trauma informed practice, leadership and culture change, combining commercial insight with lived experience in a way that is both credible and deeply human.

Many businesses invest heavily in strategy, systems and performance frameworks. Yet the biggest barriers to productivity often come from something far more human. Communication breakdown, cognitive overload, misunderstood behaviours, and workplace environments that unintentionally create stress.

NeuroTalks helps organisations recognise and address these challenges, translating inclusion into measurable performance, stronger engagement, and more consistent output.

Through talks, leadership discussions and practical workshops, NeuroTalks explores how communication, neurodiversity and workplace design influence team performance, wellbeing and collaboration.

The aim is simple. Help organisations build environments where people can perform at their best and where that performance is sustainable.

Why Neurotalks Was Founded

NeuroTalks exists to help organisations turn neuroinclusion into stronger communication, leadership and sustainable performance.

Speaker presenting to an audience or leading a workshop

Commercial Experience

Before founding NeuroTalks, I spent more than 25 years in commercially demanding roles across media, marketing, sales, business development and brand strategy in the UK and the Middle East.

My background includes experience across organisations such as Sky, Global, Yell, BT, Property Finder, News Group International and commercial broadcast media, where I worked in performance led environments focused on growth, audience behaviour, strategic messaging, retention, influence and measurable results.

That background matters.

It means I don’t speak about workplace pressure, performance or communication from theory alone. I understand the realities of commercially driven environments, leadership expectations, stakeholder pressure and what it takes to influence behaviour in organisations where performance matters.

The Hidden Cost of High Performance

Navigating experiences that many high performing professionals carry silently: ADHD, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), chronic health challenges and disability.

For years, much of that was invisible.

From the outside, I looked driven, resilient and capable. From the inside, I was also learning how much hidden effort it can take to keep performing in environments that are not always designed for minds and bodies that work differently.

That experience now shapes everything I do.

Capability and capacity
Performance and burnout
Resilience and overcompensation
Inclusion in theory and inclusion in practice

I don’t bring lived experience as a personal add on. I bring it as strategic insight that helps organisations better understand the people they employ, lead, serve and retain.

Why Organisations Work With Neurotalks

What makes my work different is the combination of lived experience, commercial credibility, stage presence and strategic insight.

Lived experience that is honest, nuanced and deeply relevant to modern workplaces
Commercial credibility built over decades in high pressure, results driven environments
Stage presence and communication skill developed through live events, presenting, hosting and executive facing roles
Strategic thinking that connects inclusion, leadership, wellbeing and performance rather than treating them as separate conversations

This means I can speak to a room in a way that is emotionally resonant, commercially intelligent and practically useful.

I don’t deliver abstract awareness talks. I help leaders and teams understand what meaningful inclusion looks like in real environments, under real pressure, with real people.

My Background

Before founding NeuroTalks, I spent over two decades working inside high pressure commercial environments across the UK and internationally.

My career has spanned global brands, large scale events, and complex stakeholder environments where performance, delivery, and expectations were consistently high.

I’ve worked in roles where decisions carry weight, timelines are tight, and the pressure to perform is constant.

That experience gave me a clear understanding of how organisations operate in reality, not just on paper and where things start to break down.

High pressure, performance driven environments
Complex stakeholder and leadership dynamics
Global brands and large scale operations
First hand experience of workplace pressure and expectation

What I Saw

Over time, a pattern became impossible to ignore.

I saw high performing people struggling silently. Capable, driven individuals who were doing everything expected of them, yet still feeling overwhelmed, misunderstood, and exhausted.

I saw environments where communication broke down, where behaviours were misread, and where pressure was seen as normal rather than something to question.

And I saw organisations investing heavily in performance, systems, and strategy, without realising that the biggest barrier was something far more human.

Burnout being normalised instead of addressed
Neurodivergent strengths being misunderstood or missed
Communication challenges mistaken for capability issues
High performers quietly disengaging

Why This Work Is Different

This isn’t about awareness. It’s about what actually changes inside organisations.

Not Awareness

Most conversations stop at understanding. This work focuses on what happens next and how change is actually applied.

Lived + Commercial

It combines lived experience with real commercial understanding, bridging the gap between people and performance.

Built for Reality

Designed for real environments where pressure exists, expectations are high, and time is limited.

Practical Change

Focused on changes leaders and teams can actually implement, not ideas that stay in the room.

The Four A’s of Inclusive Performance™

The NeuroTalks framework helps organisations move from awareness to practical change that improves communication, leadership and team performance.

Awareness

Understanding the diverse ways people think, feel, communicate and process their environment. Awareness builds the foundation for empathy, reduces assumptions, and opens the door to meaningful neuro inclusion.

Accessibility

Creating environments, systems and communication styles that reduce sensory, cognitive and social barriers. Accessibility ensures that all individuals can engage, participate and perform without unnecessary overwhelm.

Adjustment

Providing personalised, practical changes that support individual needs, from flexible communication to sensory considerations and workload clarity. Great adjustments do not just help individuals, they enhance team performance and wellbeing.

Alignment

Bringing policies, leadership behaviours and workplace culture into alignment with inclusive values. Alignment ensures that awareness and adjustments translate into sustainable, systemic change.