Krishna Pendyala

Krishna Pendyala is an unconventional business adviser, author and keynote speaker. He is the founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of the ChoiceLadder Institute, www.choiceladder.com, and the president of the Mindful Nation Foundation, www.mindfulnation.org.

His unique approach stems from his early training as an engineer, not a psychologist or a scientist. His focus is on solutions: How do you make something work better? Over the past 25 years, he has integrated interesting elements from a range of disciplines—Systems Thinking, Social Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavioral Economics to configure usable and easy to adopt habits. His latest construct, Judgment Quotient®, can be labeled as the missing intelligence that trips many successful people into making poor choices, derailing their otherwise esteemed careers.

A former high-tech entrepreneur who set out decades ago to write a book about achieving “success on your own terms,” he changed course as he realized that true success and happiness depend on knowing who “you” really are. This led to Beyond the PIG and the APE, which invites each person to live as “the big YOU” — fully aware and joyfully alive.

Born and raised in India, Krishna moved to the United States in 1984 for graduate studies. He stayed on to launch two multimedia companies and developed MediaSite, the industry-leading product for online lectures and webcasting. During the 1990s he began speaking and leading seminars on personal growth and effectiveness. In addition to corporate audiences, he focuses on working with people who he loving refers to as the "driven and restless," folks who really want to make life better for themselves and those around them.

Krishna was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of Indiana State University in 2014 where he received a master’s in educational foundations and media technology and holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. He has attended executive management programs at Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard, and constantly hones his coaching skills through a mix of professional courses and personal study.

Krishna is a Charter Member of TiE, the world’s largest entrepreneurial network, and has been active in many civic and charitable efforts in Pittsburgh, where he now lives with his wife and two children. To learn more, please visit www.krishnapendyala.com.