At the age of 17, Breda McCague became one of the first girls in the history books to join the Irish Reserve Infantry Defence Forces.
She subsequently served as her unit’s first Female Lieutenant for 20 years on the Military Border in Ireland. She has continued in positions of leadership across a variety of Industries ever since.
In 2016 Breda co-founded a Peer Mentoring Foundation called Lean-In Ireland (San Francisco based LeanIn.org Foundation founded by Sheryl Sandberg) to empower & support professional women across the business landscape.
Over the last two decades, Breda worked across the Global Finance Industry, driving, delivering and overseeing Global IT & Cultural Transformation into a large number of International Business Brands in a Head of Department role.
She took up a Director role in 2022, designing and delivering Global Leadership Coaching for an International Financial Consultancy, and delivered talks across the Globe.
In 2020, Breda became an Accredited Emotional Intelligence Coach with Roche Martin, an Australian based Coaching Company. She began to deliver talks across Corporates & Industry Groups on Leadership, Decision Making, Emotional Intelligence, Vision, Strategy and Growth. She has since been flown to many countries to deliver her lively keynotes.
In 2022, Breda delivered a TED x talk on Perspective Swaps & Mindset Hacks which was then promoted to and is available on the Global Professional TED.com channel.
Breda now runs her own Talks Business called AIMING4AWESOME and also runs hackathons, bootcamps and innovative leadership workshops across many Industries.
McCague is a very driven, energetic, individual who enjoys educating, inspiring and collaborating with others so that they can become impactful, successful, Leaders.
She is a single Mum to 3 boys and enjoys creating Inspirational Social Media Content.
Breda was awarded the Women of the Year title in the Women in Finance Ireland Award 2021, was a Finalist in the STEM Ireland Mentor Awards 2023 and is a Finalist in the Women Changing the Worlds Awards 2025 based in Australia.
She plays Celtic Rock in a Philanthropic Band.
Breda’s website & TED talk: https://www.bredamccague.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcROZ8bdRMA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/breda-mccague-49910452/