Influential Woman · Coaching & Human Development / Entrepreneurship Education
Pam Aks, M.S., PCC, RMT
Cognitive Traffic Jam Disruptor | ICF Certified Mindset Coach | Director of Coach Training @ UTD, What's Within U
Kansas City, MO 64113
Her Story
About Pam
Pam Aks, M.S., PCC, RMT, is a neuroscience-informed mindset coach, entrepreneur, and coach educator whose career has been driven by a singular purpose: supporting people move beyond the cognitive traffic jams (stories and negative thoughts) and step fully into who they are and what they're capable of. With over two decades of experience, she built her international coaching practice, What's Within U, on the belief that lasting transformation begins in the brain and body.
Drawing on her Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and years of dedicated neuroscience study, Pam specializes in supporting solopreneurs and entrepreneurs break free from the self-limiting stories and deeply rooted thought patterns that stall progress and keep people from pursuing their most meaningful ideas and goals.
Her approach uniquely blends neuroscience-informed frameworks with somatic practices, creating personalized, brain-friendly strategies that are as unique as the individuals she serves. The result is change that feels both sustainable and aligned with who her clients truly are.
Pam’s professional path reflects the same entrepreneurial spirit she now supports in others. Before stepping into coaching, she founded a nonprofit AIDS prevention organization in the early 90s and co-founded an interactive web development company well ahead of the social media era.
It was through that venture that her clients, many of them coaches themselves, recognized what she could not yet see in herself: that she was already a natural coach. That pivotal realization set her on a path that has since spanned more than 21 years of coaching women across the globe.
In addition to her private practice, Pam serves as the ICF Level 2 Director of Training for the Executive and Professional Coaching Program at The University of Texas at Dallas, where she leads curriculum development, upholds International Coach Federation standards, and supports the next the generation of certified executive and professional coaches. A passionate advocate for authentic self-expression, Pam is particularly dedicated to empowering women to stop shrinking and start showing up fully as themselves. She is a firm believer that true success is not built by conforming to others' expectations, but by embracing one's own voice, strengths, and perspective.
Recognized as an Honored Listee by Marquis Who's Who and featured in the Influential Women 2026 edition, Pam's impact extends well beyond the coaching space. As a member of the International Coach Federation and KCSourceLink, she remains deeply committed to both the integrity of her profession and the broader entrepreneurial community.
She’s also the author of the book Developing a Confident, Resilient Mindset which has become the foundation of the course she created for UTD’s coach training program. And she’s currently working on another book, Move On If You Can’t Take the Fullness of Who I Am: A movement to stop editing yourself and ghosting the things that matter most
Whether she is leading an interactive workshop, teaching emerging coaches, writing, or working one-on-one with a client, Pam Aks brings the same unwavering conviction, that when women fully own who they are and what they’re capable of, everything becomes possible.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Pam
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to finally learning how to trust my own instincts instead of following everyone else’s playbook.
For a long time, I was great at morphing into someone that I thought others wanted me to be, as well as believing that others held the secret sauce that I needed in order to be successful. All of that lead me to solution fatigue, stress, and what I call cognitive traffic jams (for example, stories of not good enough).
True momentum and success started when I stopped trying to please everyone else and started building a business of value and service on my own terms and what felt more like me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever received was something a mentor once said to me…She said, “Pam, people don’t care about the letters behind your name or the schools you have gone to. (All the external things.) What they care about are the fires you’ve walked through that are going to help them walk through their own.”
It’s so easy to get caught up in the latest trends and think we need to copy someone else’s model to be successful.
The moment I gave myself permission to step outside of that box, to show and be me, supporting and sharing from a place of vulnerable transparency, everything changed. Copying my industry peers felt safe, but it really got in the way of my creativity and innovative side…not to mention my confidence and ability to show up as me
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Stop waiting for permission to take a seat at the table or to show up as yourself. Own who you are and what makes you good at what you do. When you’re starting out, it’s incredibly tempting to sit back, nod along, and assume everyone else in the room knows more than you do. I spent years holding back my best ideas because I didn't want to look like a fool.
The truth is, your unique perspective, experiences, and skills are assets. And while it may feel like you need to wait until you feel entirely ready or have another certification under your belt. You don’t. Your insights and experiences have value right now, and keeping them stuck in your head or on paper doesn't serve anyone.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is also an opportunity and comes down to the sheer volume of noise. With so much information out there, it’s easier than ever for talented, capable women to get caught in comparison traps, which leaves them completely stuck and stalled out.
Since the world doesn’t need more women to polish their edges, the opportunity right now belongs to the women who, despite the noise, are willing to show up as they are and to share from their own flavor of value and service. Or as one of my favorite Einstein quotes says…"be a voice and not an echo."
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity, self-trust, and alignment. Finally walking away from things that didn’t fit me not only created space for things and people that did… but it taught me that running a business on someone else's terms is a fast track to exhaustion and disconnection.
When our daily actions and decisions match our core values, we build something that is sustainable, resilient, and genuinely yours. We attract and create relationships that fit who we are not what others want us to be. We also become a voice in a sea of echoes and serve as amazingly beautiful, unstoppable role models to other women.
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