Kirsten Penaloza

Kirsten Penaloza is a leadership coach and organizational advisor based in Austin, Texas. She began leadership coaching while leading client experience departments in different tech companies and made the jump to independent coaching and advisory work in December of last year. Now fully independent, she works with clients to develop them into better leaders and create workspaces where people feel they matter, belong, are engaged, happy to show up, and aligned with the company. Her passion for coaching stems from her own experience receiving executive coaching, which helped her realize its power and led her to implement coaching techniques in people management, developing team members into directors at companies. She manages multiple roles including coaching clients, organizing events with her longtime coach Chris Saunders in Austin, writing gigs, and hosting a podcast on human-centered leadership. She attributes her success to a growth mindset of continuous learning and the network of people who have influenced her, including good and bad bosses. She is also involved with Fuck Up Nights, a global movement creating events to share stories of professional failure, and volunteers with Austin Tog Rescue fostering dogs.