Lisa Rueff lives by this quote from Oprah: “The greatest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”
Right now, Lisa is boldly following a dream to connect women with their own purpose and passion—and with each other.
Lisa is an enthusiastic entrepreneur is CEO & Founder of YogaVentures, a global humanitarian retreat company that provides participants the opportunity to embark on meaningful, sustainable yoga volunteer retreats worldwide. Lisa also served as Executive Director of Do It For The Love, a nonprofit wish-granting Foundation created by musician Michael Franti that brings people living with life-threatening illnesses, children with severe challenges, and wounded veterans to live concerts.
Most recently, Lisa has developed the board game SPARKED to bring women together to celebrate, empower and uplift each other (like the Hivery). The game is inspirational, aspirational, full of heart and soul—made by women for women—and it’s an absolute blast to play! Come see for yourself next Thursday at The Hivery Circle Game Night on May 10th!
What inspired you to create SPARKED?
SPARKED was inspired by back-to-back women’s gatherings around Superbowl Weekend 2015, which I now affectionately refer to as Super Soul Weekend. The first evening was an intentional gathering by a friend in Marin to inspire her 16-year-old twin daughters to meet and get to know positive role models doing great work in the world. We were each invited to share with the group the work we were doing, what we needed help with, and how we could support each other. It was such a thoughtful, supportive and empowering evening, that I drove away wanting to bottle up the feeling I had!
Two nights later, I was invited to a much more casual girlfriends gathering. A woman at the gathering shared with us a very heartfelt and meaningful story of healing herself from a life-threatening illness. After she finished sharing her story, someone proposed we play Cards Against Humanity. There’s a time and place for everything, and this wasn’t the time or place for that game. It struck me that there wasn’t an alternative game out there for smart, sassy, soulful women who want to have a lot of laughs and make an evening meaningful and memorable.
When I realized there was nothing like it on the market, I knew I had to create it. And so I did! A year and a few months later, we are ready to launch!
Tell us a little about what transitions or new chapters you’re exploring.
As I create SPARKED, each day feels like a new chapter and a tremendous learning experience. In the past month I have taken on the role of a game developer, product photographer, video editor, marketer, promoter, event planner, social media specialist, brand developer, designer, writer of copy, and many more titles and hats.
What are your long and short-term goals for SPARKED?
Right now, my goal is to launch an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign and exceed my initial goal beyond my wildest dreams! (And during the month-long Kickstarter launch, to maintain peace, sanity, and a social life.)
Long-term, I would love to see SPARKED being played all over the world—by people of all ages, religions, ethnicities—to connect, celebrate, and unify all people together, to see that we each have our own dreams, aspirations, inspirations, passions, and the more we recognize the beauty, strength, and inspiration in in each other, we see that in ourselves and everyone.
I imagine a SPARKED app that would connect women worldwide to their dreams and each other. A woman in Senegal playing simultaneously with a woman in Ireland, Poland, Japan and United States. Each time women play the app SPARKED, they feel ignited to live their life with meaning and purpose. To live generously, gratefully, inspired and empowered by each other and ultimately, themselves.
I would love to see SPARKED versions for couples, families, and teenagers, and to see this game being played in board rooms, at birthday parties, retreats, and conferences for the purpose of spurring rich conversations and delivering meaningful experiences to everyone present.
Dreaming big can often awaken fear. How do you work through or with fear?
I take deep breaths, meditate, lead yoga hikes every weekend, contemplate, and reach out to loved ones for support and advice.
What role has The Hivery played in the cool stuff you’re doing?
I love being surrounded and inspired by so many fascinating and inspiring women doing such great work in the world. From the moment I entered the Hivery, when it was still in the Sausalito location, I felt welcome and a part of something bigger and greater than myself, and even the community of women gathered in the room.
Betsy, Thais, and Grace have made me feel supported, with their enthusiasm and willingness to support SPARKED. I am so grateful to the Hivery for hosting two SPARKED events. Last month I shared SPARKED with Hivery members at Lead-a-Lunch, and next week I’ll be sharing the it at the Hivery Circle Game Night on May 10.
And Hivery member Carey Clahan of Laughing Glass Cocktails poured her signature cocktails at my launch party on April 19th. What fun!
One of the goals of SPARKED is to help women connect with their passions. What advice would you offer your younger self about making time and space for work that you are passionate about?
Celebrate everyday what you have accomplished. Life is short. Do what you love and believe in yourself. There is only one you. You have everything it takes inside of you to leap beyond your wildest imagination into the land of your dreams.
“Do what you love.” What do you most love to do?
Smile, laugh, hike, dance, love and be loved. To recharge, I go hiking in nature and dancing with friends to live music. I find it restorative to teach yoga, and lead my humanitarian retreats.
Finally, finish this thought for us. I never leave the house without:
A hug waiting to happen.
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SPARKED delivers rich, meaningful, and joyful experiences. Old friends discover fabulous things you never knew about each other before, engage in new and memorable ways, and support and enrich each other’s dreams. New friends bond with each other right away, and become fast friends! This game leads to some of the juiciest, most passion-filled conversations and activities imaginable.
