Paal Ringstad has spent over seven years teaching at Le Wagon, but his mission goes far beyond tech. For him, it’s just as important to help students connect with who they are as it is to teach them how to code. Through career coaching, personal reflection, and a deep belief in self-development, Paal supports people as they build not just their skills—but their confidence, clarity, and purpose. In this conversation, he shares his thoughts on discipline, blind spots, storytelling, and why real growth begins with looking inward.
How do you usually start your day? Do you have any routines that help you feel grounded before stepping into teaching or coaching?
I usually start with a one-hour morning exercise routine at home, during which I do situps, pushups, stretching, and other exercises.
You’ve spent over seven years teaching at Le Wagon. What keeps that work fresh and meaningful for you after all this time?
I’m very purpose-driven and love to serve and help others willing to grow. Before, I was fascinated by teaching tech to train our students in the hope that they’d be building their future startups or train them to be better leaders and thinkers.
Everything is constantly changing, including ourselves. Therefore, I’ve had to dive deep inside and work on redefining my purpose and moving ahead. Now, my purpose is to provide an incredible tech education while providing great career and self-development support throughout the course.
The Tech Job market and landscape have changed a lot, and we want our students to gain confidence in themselves and their skills so that they can take responsibility for their journey ahead. I want to help our students connect with their higher selves so that they can be fulfilled professionally and, therefore, become better leaders, friends, partners, and parents!
You’re passionate about helping people find their voice. What have you learned about confidence and storytelling from working with students?
Confidence and storytelling are INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. But you cannot tell a great story without confidence. Most people have never really done the work of reflecting upon who they are, what drives them, what makes them happy, etc.
For us, a big part of the work is to help our students work figuring out who they are, understanding their core values, figuring out what they’re driven by – and helping them craft that story so that they have a clear compass they are confident with so that they can start working towards their goals.
You mentioned confronting your own shadows as a key to growth. How does that belief show up in your work or daily life?
Our shadows are our blindspots that we’re not aware of, blocking our growth. And it’s the stuff that everyone else sees but yourself. No one will tell you because it’s taboo. It’s taboo because it’s hard to hear, and we don’t want to listen to it as it always triggers us emotionally and massively affects our ego. At the same time, it’s always the stuff that blocks your growth the most in life – whether it’s in your personal or professional life, such as getting a new job or a promotion.
I won’t give specific examples of myself. But my approach is to focus on what I’m good at to avoid pushing myself down. At the same time, I surround myself with people who have the courage to tell me these things so that I can take baby steps and improve these lower aspects of myself over time.
With such a high-energy role, how do you personally manage rest, recovery, or mental clarity during busy periods?
This is definitely something I have to improve on. Meditation will gradually become more important in my life and help me with this. For now, what energises me is going for a quick swim in the ocean and having energising conversations with friends.
Do you have any habits or boundaries that help you stay aligned with your higher purpose in the middle of day-to-day demands?
Historically, I’ve never been good with boundaries, but I have become much better at prioritising my time. On the other hand, I always help when someone needs help, as that energises me.
Finally, what advice would you give to someone trying to align their career with something deeper—something that really matters to them?
First, it’s fair to say that it’s not easy but incredibly fulfilling and rewarding. Some people have always known what matters to them. Most haven’t; if you haven’t, it takes time, work, and commitment. But once you connect with it, it’s like flowing down a river rather than swimming against the current. For the record, going with the flow always has plenty of difficult challenges.
I don’t think I’m the right person to give advice, as I feel like I’m a White belt giving it. If I were to give some, I would definitely say to do some self-reflection work.
You could start by summarising everything you liked and didn’t like in your various roles and studies. You might start seeing a pattern. I would also work on defining the underlying core values that drive you in life! If you have time, self-authoring is recommended. That should give you an idea of what you could do and what courses you could enrol in to get closer to your goals.
