Jan 15, 2026
Dr. Maya Shankar, cognitive scientist, creator, executive producer, and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, and author of The Other Side of Change, joins me on this episode.
Maya was a Senior Advisor in the Obama White House, where she founded and served as Chair of the White House Behavioral Science Team. She also served as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations under Ban Ki-moon, and as a core member of Pete Buttigieg’s debate preparation team during his 2020 presidential run.
Maya has a postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience from Stanford, a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and a B.A. from Yale. She's been profiled by The New Yorker and has been the featured guest on NPR's All Things Considered, Freakonomics, and Hidden Brain. She's a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music's pre-college program, where she was a private violin student of Itzhak Perlman.
🎙️ What We Discuss:
✅ Giving and receiving constructive feedback
✅ What we anchor our self-identity to
✅ How change can force us to reexamine our beliefs
✅ Applying temptation bundling to achieve our goals
✅ And much more!
Get connected with Maya:
Website: https://mayashankar.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar
Twitter: https://x.com/slightchangepod
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmayashankar/
Purchase a copy of The Other Side of Change: https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Change-Become-Makes/dp/0593713680
Listen to A Slight Change of Plans podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-slight-change-of-plans/id1561860622
Leave a 5-star review with a comment on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-minds-coffee-chat/id1539014324
Subscribe to my Business Builder Newsletter: https://bit.ly/32y0YxJ
Want to learn how you can work with me to gain more clarity, build a rock-solid foundation for your business, and achieve the results and success you deserve? Visit http://jayscherrbusinessconsulting.com/ and schedule a 1:1 discovery coaching call.
Enjoy, thanks for listening, and please share with a friend!
To your success, Jay