Penney De Pas, MA, RYP-C
Penney De Pas, MA, RYP-C, former Certified Association Executive (CAE), is an artist, writer, and flourishing artists coach based in Raleigh, North Carolina. With over three decades of experience in association and nonprofit management, she built a distinguished career supporting professional societies and trade associations while holding senior executive roles. Her early professional life centered on organizational leadership, strategic planning, and executive management across numerous organizations.
In 2002, Penney returned to her lifelong passion for the arts, beginning her journey as a visual artist working in watercolor, acrylics, charcoal, and Chinese brush painting. What began as a personal outlet for healing and expression evolved into a successful artistic practice, with her work exhibited and collected over the years. Alongside her visual art, she developed a parallel career in coaching, training professionals, creatives, and entrepreneurs, integrating her executive experience with her passion for personal development and creative growth.
Today, Penney combines her identities as an artist, author, and coach through her work with creative individuals seeking to reconnect with inspiration and purpose. She is the founder of coaching programs supporting “flourishing artists,” and she continues to write, teach, and create while also exploring dance and performance. Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to creativity, transformation, and helping others unlock their own artistic potential.
• Coach University 200-hour program
• Landmark Education (Landmark Worldwide) 25 years of programs
• The Ohio State University - MA
• Women's March organizing (2016-present)
• Democracy Out Loud political activism
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received came from reading about a life coach in a local magazine back in 1994. I was fascinated by how she made a difference in people's lives by being a coach rather than a therapist. Therapy deals with past emotional stress, but coaching deals with what you want in the future and where you want to go. You get transformational realizations in both the listening and the speaking with your coach. When I read about this, I thought, 'That. I want to be able to affect people's lives that way.' I called her up and asked her about this career. There was another guy who did Coach University and had done Landmark, and he said Coach University will give you a 36-volume book on how to ride a bike, but Landmark will put you on the seat on the bike and hold the seat for you. That insight helped me understand the difference between learning about coaching and actually doing it, which is why I ended up doing 25 years of various Landmark programs along with a 200-hour Coach University program.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge right now is economic. We've got really bad financial problems coming down the pike with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, inflation going up, and gas prices going up. People don't have money, and they're actually the ones who probably need more coaching rather than less, but money is usually one of the things that stops people. The same thing happens with art. When money's tight and you can't pay your groceries or your rent, you're not going to take an art course because it's considered a frivolity. The opportunity is for people who realize that art, dancing, music, and all those creative efforts really is where the quality of life is. If they can open up to it and allow themselves to have the time and spend the money to expand that in their lives, they'll be much happier and joyful and fulfilled. There's also a lot of free coaching available now, though you get what you pay for in some cases. I'm grounded in women-centered coaching, which is important because women are the ones who want and need coaching more these days as we're trying to come out of the patriarchal society.
Locations
Private Practice
208 Rosehaven Dr, Raleigh, NC 27609