We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kiera Penpeci. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kiera below.

Kiera, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any advice for creating a more inclusive workplace?

Being competitive isn’t necessarily a bad quality. We can be competitive toward our individual and collective goals, competitive with our past selves as we develop into our future selves. We can be competitive as we resist oppressive systems. When competition is coupled with a scarcity mindset, however, we can forget we’re on the same team fighting the same fight or working toward a collective mission and we lose out on what we can create when we connect with each other and nurture an abundance mindset. I’m constantly honored by the way some teachers in the yoga community assume they can learn something from me or get excited about learning with me. In a recent interaction with a colleague who promoted my workshop that was directly after her class, I joked that we could call it mashup of our classes. Soon-after we decided to actually co-create a workshop together. We’ll take the energy from any competitiveness we may posses to fill our classes and create something new, rather than worry we’ll have something taken away from us. This abundance mentality gives us double the power to serve the missions we both align on. When we can connect on a common goal, despite the inevitable misalignments we come across in other humans, we have a huge opportunity. The advanced stage of this is sharing leads, bouncing ideas, etc.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My business is called Primed OD. I founded it in 2020. That year was a perfect storm of finishing my doctorate in Leadership Psychology, while living through a life-altering pandemic, while a modern civil rights movement rightfully disrupted organizations from their inattention to equity. I recognized that we were at a different point in a predictable cycle of growing racial tensions, protest, and resistance to change (though the Covid-19 pandemic really amplified the disparities among historically marginalized groups). I left my corporate job at this time so that I could create a consultancy that could cast a wide net across industries while helping organizations create a foundation for equity that withstands these cycles. I soon thereafter became a yoga instructor and wellness educator as my research in mindfulness and deepened personal practice collided. I work within organizations that are committed to driving equity and offer bespoke workshops that address their nuanced needs, people-health assessments to understand growth areas, group yoga to help people develop the muscle of turning inward and live easefully in their bodies, and more. The through-line between all of the services I provide is an approach that prioritizes mental health and well-being, and aims to help people go on and do their best work. One thing clients within any industry I venture can expect is practicality, a thoughtful and relevant tone in consideration of the context impacting us, and realistic tools to generalize and apply learning to day to day actions.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I value the ability the pivot. I will say that in my past I have accepted opportunities blindly because I was just happy to have a chance to try something that I might be successful at. I think this was my first lesson in scarcity – sometimes the value is in prioritizing your alignment to an opportunity, not securing finances. I’m skeptical when people suggest having faith to sustain us through low periods, but my spirituality practice has led me to consider the ways in which hope helps us stay open to possibilities. I left steady high-salary positions with impending bonuses, or jobs themselves, without having something long-term lined up because my misalignment was doing both myself and my employers a disservice. Whether I was bored, disheartened, angry, or inspired, I followed my gut knowing I’d find more peace but it might be the wrong decision in the long-run for other reasons. I can’t say I’ve regretted these choices because it always seems to work out and that peace grows every time. The last time I walked away from a bonus was because I was really struggling with the way I was being treated by a client, and the way that the company dealt with abusive clients. I knew where my income would come from for the 3 months ahead, but I had to trust that the opportunities will reveal themselves after that period. It hasn’t been easy assuming things will work out, but I’m reassurred every time they do. I have embraced the idea of hope and “that gut feeling”. It usually leads to truth or at least a movement that will eventually reveal the benefits of that shift. In this case, the truth is I’m better able to manage my working style, and choose client work with folx who WANT to work with and are better aligned with my values.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

From childhood, I learned how to assimilate and follow rules so that I blend in. It has earned me opportunities and promotions, which was positive reinforcement to do what the powers-that-be tell me to do. It certainly stifles creativity to assume that the only path forward is the one mapped by someone else. I’m constantly unlearning that someone has to tell me to do something before I do it! I sometimes forget that I am the boss and the only person I’m waiting to give me direction is me! Yes, I have a strong network and strong leads, but generating business will not happen by chance. I’m currently working on initiating new long-term projects and staying motivated to get them going.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.primedod.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kierapenpeciyoga/
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/kierap

Image Credits
Lauren Miller Adriana Arguijo Sowa Health & Wellness