Lana Penley
If you’re doing everything you can to keep your school or workplace running smoothly — all while trying to juggle the rest of your life. Does you school feel a bit more like a circus and a bit less like a community of connected folks — please hear this: you’re not alone.
I’ve lived that tension. I know what it feels like to smile through meetings while quietly wondering how long you can keep going like this.
There is a path toward balance, and I’m here to help you find it.
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Burnout to Balance™
Keynote | Speaker for all workplaces
Top-Rated Speaker on Leadership Well-Being | Creator of the Burnout to Balance Keynote™
Helping executives, school leaders, and high performers break the burnout cycle and lead with clarity, confidence, and calm.
Burnout to Balance™
👉 Walk away with tools to lead with more clarity and calm.
The CORE Series™
For Districts and Schools
Creator of the SEL Core Series™, a research-backed, 5-step SEL framework trusted by districts nationwide to build healthier, more connected, and thriving school communities.
A simple, sustainable approach to schoolwide SEL implementation.
The CORE Series™
👉Equip your entire school with sustainable SEL systems.
Leadwell Lab™
Online Group Coaching
The Leadwell Lab™ is a cohort-based group 6-week coaching experience for high-achieving leaders who want to break the burnout cycle, strengthen their well-being, and create a healthier, more sustainable way of leading.
Launching soon — join the waitlist for early access.
Leadwell Lab™
👉Get early access to high-impact leadership coaching.
Three Ways I Can Help
My Story
My journey to helping leaders create calm, connected, and thriving environments didn’t start with balance.
It started with burnout.
During my years as a school principal, I was committed, high-performing, and deeply invested in my community. But behind the scenes, I was stretched thin — juggling the demands of leadership, the weight of supporting others, and the quiet belief that I needed to handle everything alone.
That experience became the catalyst for the work I do today.
The Turning Point
Many years ago, I faced one of the biggest challenges of my life — losing everything in a devastating school fire. It forced me to rebuild, not just my school, but my sense of purpose.
Through resilience, mindfulness, and the very SEL practices I now teach, we turned adversity into a new beginning.
People told me that transforming school culture through SEL was too idealistic — that educator burnout was simply part of the job. But I refused to accept that.
Instead of wondering “what if,” I showed up every day to create real change. I started a company, Unlocking SEL, wrote a book, and began traveling the country helping people stress less, smile more, and rediscover the joy in their work.
You don’t have to do leadership alone.
There’s a path to balance, and I’d be honored to walk it with you.
"Lana's training was the best professonal development I have ever had. It was the training I had been waiting on."
-Principal, Oregon
Why Leaders Trust Lana
"I have never met a person who doesn't appreciate Lana's message."
ANDY LONG
Asst. Superintendent
“Lana’s training brings home a powerful truth: we can’t effectively teach our students if our staff isn’t grounded in their own well-being.”
KRISTIE LINDHOLM
Dir. Of Education
“Our sense of joy and school culture improved dramatically after Lana began her work with our staff.”