About Coach Pena

As a child, I experienced two very different sides of education. I was first placed in special education and later identified for gifted programs. That left me wondering, how can the same student be seen so differently? That question led me to become an educator. I earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, taught in South Korea, and later taught history, health, physical education and even homeschooled in Arizona. But the deeper lesson I learned was this. Many students aren’t struggling because they lack intelligence. They’re struggling because they’ve never been taught how to understand themselves or steer their own lives. That’s why I founded the Inner Coach Institute, to help young people develop the inner skills that shape every part of life: confidence, emotional resilience, self awareness, and self-leadership. I believe every student has an inner coach. My mission is to help them discover it, strengthen it, and trust it.