Highlights
Global Brand Strategist: 18 years of content and community strategy for world-leading brands including Disney, Coca-Cola, Samsung, and Mercedes-Benz.
Disney+ Launch Team: Former Head of Social Media and Influencer Marketing at Disney, where she was part of the team that launched Disney+ across seven countries.
Podcast Host: Co-host of Decisions That Count, Numin's podcast exploring how high-performers across finance, medicine, sport, and business navigate the decisions that shape their lives.
Experience
Michelle O'Brien is a content strategist and brand builder with 18 years of experience across agency, in-house, and consulting roles. Originally from Manchester, she worked in London before relocating to Singapore, where she has been based for 12 years.
Her career spans content, community, and influencer marketing for some of the world's most recognised brands. At Disney, she led social media and influencer strategy and was part of the team that launched Disney+ across seven countries. She later founded her own consultancy before joining Numin as CMO.
Michelle's path to Numin was personal. A self-described optimiser, she had spent years refining her health and performance: giving up alcohol, training daily, prioritising sleep, nutrition, and recovery. Despite doing everything right, she experienced a persistent afternoon shutdown that left her unable to function at her best, particularly in the evenings with her family. Meeting neuroscientist Dr. Shawn Watson gave her the explanation she had been missing: decision fatigue, a biological limitation caused by the accumulation of glutamate in the brain during sustained decision-making.
That understanding became the foundation for her role at Numin, where she leads brand, content, and growth strategy. She translates the science of decision fatigue into accessible, personal stories, writing and speaking from lived experience as a working mum of two, a marathon runner with a goal to complete one on every continent, and someone who manages the full weight of household decision-making alongside a demanding career.
At Numin, Michelle ensures the human side of decision fatigue is heard, giving voice to the millions of people, especially working parents, who experience it daily without knowing what it is or that it can be addressed.
