Christien Pena, MD

The Dr. Pena Podcast - The Performance Standard

Health EN ↓ 6 episodes

Most people settle. High performers refuse. The Dr. Peña Podcast — The Performance Standard is where discipline, ambition, and relentless standards collide. Hosted by Dr. Christien Peña, an Emergency Medicine physician, entrepreneur, and performance strategist, this show breaks down what it actually takes to excel — in business, athletics, leadership, medicine, and life. No fluff. No shortcuts. Just real conversations with people who raise the bar and never lower it. From ER medicine and high-stakes decision making to mental resilience, trauma, justice, mindset, politics, and the pursuit of pe...

Author

Christien Pena, MD

Episodes

The Health Framework Most Men Ignore | Sleep Hormones, Exercise, Diet 03.04.2026 31:02

Performance pyramid health framework explained by an ER doctor showing why sleep hormones exercise and diet matter more than peptides supplements and advanced therapies. I see this every day. People chasing shortcuts while ignoring the foundation that actually determines performance and longevity. I’m Dr. Christien Peña - Emergency Medicine physician and founder of Covenix Health, a performance-fo...

From Green Beret to Brotherhood Leader | What Breaks Most Men? 23.02.2026 51:58

If you fear excellence, swipe away now. Today I sit down with Jeremy McWilliams a former Green Beret, combat veteran, entrepreneur, husband, and leader inside the Rise Up Kings community. A man who went through Special Forces selection, survived combat in Afghanistan, took grenades on a rooftop, and was dragged to a helicopter by a brother who refused to leave him behind. This is not a war story....

The Discipline Every Man Needs to Build Wealth! 14.02.2026 59:17

Baseball is a game of failure. Wealth is a game of discipline. Life is a game of execution. In this episode of The Performance Standard, I sit down with Allan Kamori, founder of Correlation Advisors, to break down what high performing men get wrong about money. Most people are not investing. They are gambling. They chase trends. They react emotionally. They follow gurus. And then they wonder why t...

$400K in Debt, No Match, No Talent - How I Built the Performance Standard Anyway 05.02.2026 31:26

This is the story I didn’t want to tell - but needed to. I wasn’t the most talented. I failed exams. I didn’t match. I had red flags on my record. At one point, I was over $400,000 in debt , with no residency spot and no guarantees. In this solo episode of The Dr. Peña Podcast - The Performance Standard , I break down the moments where everything could’ve ended - failing prerequisites, Caribbean m...

From Job Sites to $40M Projects! Bill Goldberg on Discipline, Grit, and the Performance Standard 27.01.2026 1:09:07

This episode defines what The Performance Standard actually means in the real world. I sat down with Bill Goldberg, founder of Compass Construction, a high-level operator who has delivered $40M+ projects in an industry where missing the schedule or budget is considered normal. For Bill, it’s not. We talk about what it takes to build from nothing — growing up without handouts, learning construction...

False Accusation Nearly Destroyed Him - Here's How He Won 12.12.2025 53:47

This episode is deeply personal. My brother Sean nearly lost his life twice — first in a catastrophic motorcycle accident, and years later when he was falsely accused, stripped of his badge, and forced to fight for his freedom with zero evidence against him. In this conversation, we break down what real performance looks like when everything is taken from you. We talk about resilience, faith, disc...