Santana Inniss

Master Certified Coach

Santana’s story began in the inner city with two parents doing their best. Without sugarcoating it--
Santana experienced extreme childhood adversity, and her journey has taken many turns since then. She
became the first person in her family to graduate from university or grad school, receiving her BSc from
Columbia University and MSc from Northwestern University. She navigated a successful career in major
communications agencies, non-profits, and tech. As a multi-ethnic, neurodivergent, first-generation
American-- most of her experiences in climbing the ladder were laden with ‘isms’ and oh-so square-peg-
round-hole. Inspired to smooth the paths of those coming up after her, she began advocating for folks
through DEI leadership. She was successful on paper: she got the titles, the salary, and progressive
leadership. But something felt deeply off.

In her decade-long personal development journey, she explored mindfulness, meditation, traditional and
psychedelic-assisted therapy, mindful self-compassion, and many other modalities. In 2021, she received
the Transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings in the Plum Village Zen Buddhist tradition. The more
she did inner work, the more she found the corporate hustle incompatible with her humanity.

In 2023, she answered the call to align her work life with her life’s purpose. She waved bye-bye to success
on paper, and today, she has the privilege to coach humans along their paths to greater alignment and
freedom from the beliefs that limit them. She tells her story in hopes that it may be of service to even one
person.