Passion Coach

Meet Your Passion Coach

Paul Thiebaut III is a Teen Passion Coach and Creator and Co-Founder of Passion Coaching. Paul has over 15 years of experience educating, tutoring, mentoring, and coaching more than 2,000 SF Bay Area youth how to cultivate their passions. Passion Coaching is the fourth passion-based organization Paul has founded since 2007.

Today, Paul serves as a dedicated Teen Passion Coach in Los Altos, CA where he empowers teens to explore, develop, and pursue their passions. He also volunteers his time as a Passion Coach for at-risk teens and the homeless. Connect with Paul on LinkedIn.

Paul guiding a teen in exploring design majors at Academy of Art University

Paul's Career Timeline

Organizations Founded

2007-2012 -- Intrinsic Motivation Tutoring, Palo Alto, CA

2009 -2017 -- 10 Books A Home, East Palo Alto, CA

2017-2023 -- Thiebaut Method, East Palo Alto, CA

2021-Present -- Passion Coaching, Los Altos, CA

2007-2012 -- Intrinsic Motivation Tutoring, Palo Alto, CA

At the age of 27, while Paul was at SJSU studying economics, sociology, and business, he launched his first passion-based tutoring practice in the Palo Alto-Los Altos area. Paul added unique value by tutoring students how to learn through their interests and passions, which Paul named, Intrinsic Learning Motivation (ILM). Paul's method of teaching was so effective that he expanded into working with students with learning differences. In this too, learning about their ILMs improved their IEP scores, social skills, relationships with parents, and most importantly, their belief in themselves and what they could achieve.

2009 -2017 -- 10 Books A Home, East Palo Alto, CA

Paul next founded the East Palo Alto nonprofit, 10 Books A Home (10BH), in his East Palo Alto apartment and ran it voluntarily for 3 years until becoming the first employee in 2012. Up to that point 10BH donated 25,000+ books throughout East Palo Alto. From 2013-2017, 10BH home tutored 700 preschoolers in their passions by recruiting, training, and managing nearly 2,000 volunteers.

2017-2023 -- Thiebaut Method, East Palo Alto, CA

Paul next started the nonprofit Thiebaut Method (TM), which focused on East Palo Alto elementary and middle school students. From 2017-2023, TM offered a free after school program and community service leadership program. The after school program guided youth in self-learning to get better at their passions and the leadership program guided youth in helping people, animals, and the environment through their passions.

2021-Present -- Passion Coaching, Los Altos, CA

Paul’s latest organization, Passion Coaching, is an innovative 1-on-1 life coaching service for high schoolers. High schoolers learn about passion (versus emotions or thoughts), identify patterns in their passions, develop new skills through their passions, and make connections to key areas of their life, including talent development, community service, part-time work, college majors, and careers.

Some of Paul's Internal Motivations

Passions (not including Paul's top passion: cultivating passions)

Passion is (1) a strong inclination toward a specific object, activity, concept, or person that (2) one loves (or at least strongly likes), (3) highly values, (4) invests time and energy in on a regular basis, and (5) that is part of one’s identity (Vallerand et. al., 2003).

Researching Passionate Professionals

Studying motivation & learning science

Playing pool with his kittens

Intrinsic Motivations

"Intrinsic Motivation is an incentive to engage in a specific activity that derives from pleasure in the activity itself (e.g., a genuine interest in a subject studied) rather than because of any external benefits that might be obtained (e.g., money, course credits)." -APA

Exploring

Photography (Orchid Mantis)

Healthful living

Personal Interests

"An attitude characterized by a need or desire to give selective attention to something that is significant to the individual, such as an activity, goal, or research area." -APA