Latest / ROAR with Danielle Davies: Women, Culture and Impact / Why Creative Community Matters for Women (with Lisa Field)

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Why Creative Community Matters for Women (with Lisa Field) · ROAR with Danielle Davies: Women, Culture and Impact

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  Hi, I'm Danielle Davies, and you're listening to Roar, a show
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  that amplifies the voices of women breaking barriers, leading
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  change and making real impact. Keep listening for bold ideas
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  and stories that inspire you to find your voice and make some
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  noise. Hi everybody, this is Danielle
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  Davies, your host of ROAR. Today's guest has built the
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  thing that so many of us Daydream about, a place where
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  women get to run away to camp, make things with their hands,
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  eat gorgeous food, sit under the stars and remember who they are
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  when no one needs a snack or a spreadsheet from them.
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  Lisa Field is the founder and director of Lucky Star, A5 Day
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  Creativity and Whole Living Sleep Away Camp for Women held
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  every fall in the Texas Hill Country since 2012.
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  She's welcomed hundreds of women to Camp Waldemar on the banks of
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  the Guadalupe River for workshops and everything from
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  painting and writing to welding, apothecary, guitar, yoga and
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  more. Plus live music, gourmet meals,
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  and late night campfire conversations.
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  What started as Lisa's passion project has grown into a vibrant
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  community of women who stay connected well beyond that week.
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  A thriving network of creative women who keep cheering each
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  other on all year long. We're going to talk about how
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  lucky Star came to be, why creativity such a powerful
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  catalyst for women, especially for those of us in midlife, and
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  what happens when you put 100 plus women together in the woods
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  with art supplies, good music and no laundry.
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  Lisa, welcome to Roar. Hi, Danielle.
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  Oh my God, I love hearing it all.
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  Just like read out that way. It's just, especially having
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  just been there last week, week before last, I, I'm just, I'm
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  still like, it still gives me goosebumps.
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  Yeah, you've got to have that tingly feeling.
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  I can't, I want to not say it, but I have to.
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  So I was going to change the intro and be like Lisa is my
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  personal fairy godmother. So I, this isn't, wasn't part of
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  the official intro, but it would be wrong for me to not mention
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  when the very first year Lisa gave away a tuition the, and
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  it's a whole long story of how we got to that point.
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  But I, me, Daniel TV's won anything in my life.
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  Once I won a $2.00 honor roll mention for grapes costume in a
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  Halloween break. And then I won lucky star, which
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  was a huge, huge win. And I, I will say I think it
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  changed the trajectory of my life.
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  It was like the best thing ever and I almost I'm annoyed that
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  Lisa's saying how great last week was because I wasn't there
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  this year and it. I hate to rub it in.
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  You have to rub it in, but so this is super personal for me
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  and I feel like every woman deserves this for themselves.
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  Although Lisa's going to be booked out for the next. 30
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  years. Every November.
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  So Lisa, let me ask you the first question.
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  When you first dream this up, what gap were you seeing in
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  women's lives? Like, what were you women
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  hungering for that you felt camp could give them?
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  So it was a little more selfish than that.
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  That's totally fair. It was.
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  Literally like what did I need at that time in my life?
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  And I was a young mother who gosh.
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  So my husband and I got married in O3.
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  So it was probably 2009 when I discovered something similar to
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  Lucky Star. And I since high school have
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  always loved doing events. And I, I even had like my
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  trigonometry teacher was my student council sponsor and we
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  had to do prom my junior year. We were urge of the prom.
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  And she I accredit her to teaching me how to throw an
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  event like manage it from the ground up.
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  I mean, like she taught me how to do not just a tiny little
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  high school event, but like how to do events.
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  And I have used this. I mean, this is something I use
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  in my job. It's something that I use daily
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  with in my life. So I've always wanted to do.
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  I had always wanted to do events.
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  And so just imagine like I'm a young mom.
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  I have, you know, I'm like surrounded by babies.
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  I have three-step kids that are 78 and 12 when we got married.
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  So they were, you know, on up there and like, so we're busy,
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  busy, busy. And we're living in the town
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  that my husband grew up in and my husband had friends and but I
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  was a transplant there. So I just, I wanted people.
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  I wanted people and I was, I had my babies, but I wanted people
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  and especially women friends. And like I was the, I was the
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  one who would like look out the window and watch for people to
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  walk by with strollers. And I would be like, oh, I'm
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  gonna go check my mail right now.
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  And I would strategically hi, check my mail and be like, oh,
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  hi. Oh, you have a baby.
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  I have a baby, you know, like please be my friend.
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  Please be my friend, you know, and that's just how I felt.
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  And I, I like, I knew I wanted to do something also just to
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  bring women together. I had started going to, like, a
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  Bible study, and I had started trying different things, you
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  know, So then my husband and I moved to the Hill Country to
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  Hunt, Texas, where we live now. And I started watching.
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  This was in the era of like. Do you remember when Martha and
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  Snoop first got together? OK.
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  So like, and my timeline is probably way out of whack, but I
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  remember specifically Martha Stewart's show.
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  Maybe not the Snoop part yet, but she would show these
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  beautiful farms where they were like artisans making cheese and
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  garden, you know, all the like, gardens and Whole Foods.
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  And then like they were making yarn from the sheep's wool and
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  all these things. And I was just like, Oh my gosh,
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  we're moving to hunt. We're going to be living on a
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  farm. Like I want to learn how to do
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  all these things. And so I would just start
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  watching like all these YouTube videos.
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  And, and that is when I ran across this video of an art
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  retreat that was at a campground in New Hampshire.
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  And I was like, this, this, this is it.
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  And like, I'm seeing the joy on these women's faces and they're
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  in these classes and they're making things.
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  And I really had 00 art background.
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  I mean, I'm always like, I've always been like a Jill of all
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  trades, you know, like I can, I can figure that out.
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  I can do that, you know, or I would try stuff.
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  And I was in 4H and we did like, all kinds of little projects and
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  stuff. But I never ever dreamed that I
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  would have anything to do with arts or crafting.
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  I mean, as a business especially, but really even
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  like, other than just at home, like I was sewing, you know, for
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  my baby. Right, right.
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  Like you're crafting. Right.
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  Never did I imagine that I would go down the path of an art
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  retreat. I mean, no.
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  But when I saw this, I'm like, OK, I'm in this beautiful place
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  in Hunt, TX, where it's like the capital of summer camps.
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  I mean, like, beautiful old summer camps that are just
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  dreamy. And I was like, so dreamy,
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  sorry, possibly have the spot, right?
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  And then I mean, I can just start reaching out to these
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  people that I'm seeing on like, Martha Stewart's show, right?
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  And just ask them, would you come and teach classes?
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  And then I can just start putting it out there in the
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  world that I want to do this and see what happens.
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  And so in the meantime, I decided I'm signing up and going
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  to whatever that place is that I just saw in that video.
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  So I did that. I went and I went for three
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  years. And did you really OK?
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  Loved it. So I first went in 2010 to Squam
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  art workshops and just fell in love with the whole idea of it
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  and this, the structure of it even.
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  And I'm like could I do this? Could I do this and after?
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  Guam is squam men and women. No, it's just women, OK?
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  It's women only, at least it was back then.
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  I don't know. I don't know if it if they've
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  included men now or not. But yeah, I I went and I was
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  like, this is it. This is absolutely it.
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  And if I can get, if I can start trying to get a little bit of a
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  following for this idea, you know, it's, it's just like if
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  you build it, they will come. I just started building it.
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  I just started a Facebook and I started, you know, doing my
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  trying to figure out the name of it and all that stuff.
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  I just started doing it and it just kind of grew and grew and
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  grew a little bit at a time. I, it was a big deal when I
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  booked Vivian McMaster and Juliet Crane.
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  And I was just like, OK, if they're willing to believe in my
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  little idea down here. And I'm not saying this was my,
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  you know, art retreats of all sorts have been around for long
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  before I started Lucky, but this was yours.
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  This was my baby, right? So if I can get these two on
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  board, you know, I, I can do this.
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  And so I think the first year of the first year was in 2013 and I
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  think I probably had like 44 campers and plus, and you know,
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  plus some instructors, like probably 20 instructors.
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  I don't even think I broke 80 that year.
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  Really, I feel like it was more than that.
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  Maybe, OK, maybe I'm wrong. People ask me this and I I have
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  the number 44 stuck in my head for some reason.
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  But I also remember that scary minimum that I had to meet with
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  my contract at Waldemar. That was 80.
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  I had to book. I wanted to say like I felt like
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  it was so. Maybe. 8.
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  Maybe I did have 78 That that sounds probably right because I
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  remember them making like they were like, yeah, you made it.
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  You, you know, this is good. And they were so good to me.
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  They were really good to me. They still aren't.
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  They're, they're awesome. And, well, you know, going back
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  to that time, I remember, you know, first hearing about it
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  before I entered the contest and seeing it.
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  And I saw the pictures and it was like, you described dreamy.
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  I remember going even to get my hair cut and showing my
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  hairdresser, like, look at this. Is this not the most like,
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  dreamy thing? Like, would you not just kill to
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  go to this? And people were like, I guess
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  I'm like, no, no, no, it's calling me.
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  Like it's calling me. I have to go.
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  But now, before I won, and I'll tell you, even after I won, one
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  of the things that almost kept me back was I can't leave my
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  life. I've got these little kids.
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  I've got obligations. People have sports or Boy Scouts
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  or school and homework and dinners and all these things.
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  And you've watched this over the years.
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  You've watched hundreds of women debate whether they deserve that
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  week away. What does that hesitation tell
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  you about how women see themselves and like?
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  What shifts once they finally show up?
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  It has taught me a lot. It's taught me a lot because I
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  probably would have had I probably had the same exact
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  feeling. You know, if like I can't do
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  this. I I remember having to in my
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  mind justify it, But I also, I also am like when I got married,
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  I'm I was like, I never want number one.
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  I never want to marry someone that I feel like I have to ask
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  permission to ever. I have a father, you know, and
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  that was like one of my goals in life.
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  And I got that with my husband. I mean, he's awesome.
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  So I have to consider the fact that there are lots of people
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  who are in relationships who feel like they they would need
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  full buy in, you know, or that they wouldn't have the support.
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  I'll say it like that. They wouldn't have the support
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  that I had and I I know this. OK, So with that said, I've
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  learned so much about women in that they may think it's that or
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  something like that or work or kids or whatever.
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  It's them. It's totally just them
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  themselves holding themselves back.
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  I mean, it really is us, like we are so hard on ourselves and we
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  think we're way more important that way.
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  I mean, we are obviously very important.
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  We don't prioritize like that. Yeah, yeah.
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  And it, and yeah, I feel like, and that's the thing, like it
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  took me winning it and then hearing.
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  And I was so I remember when I won, I was like screaming.
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  My little son was in the shower. My husband was like washing his
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  hair. I mean, this is how long ago my
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  son's 20 like and he's washing his hair and I'm like, I won.
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  Like I won this big thing. Like I won this crazy thing.
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  And I'm like, but I can't. I actually was like, but I can't
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  go. And my son, my little son was
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  like, but mommy, you have to like Q1 and it's because you
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  it's so hard to prioritize yourself.
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  I think when you're so used to prioritizing the people around
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  you, you know, and it's not that I didn't, I had support.
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  Everybody was like get out, like get your bags and go but.
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  And guess what? Everything was OK right when you
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  got that. Totally fine, and even better
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  actually because I was like. Better.
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  Yes, yes, I had that reset. Well, and tell me this too.
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  You know, so many women, myself included, arrive at Lucky Star
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  by themselves, especially the first year.
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  They're nervous, they're unsure. They might be a little lost.
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  They may think like I did briefly in the airport, this
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  could be some elaborate. Hoax.
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  What transformations do you see in those first 24 to 48 hours
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  when they settle in? Oh gosh, so that first day, you
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  know at well, all year long I see everyone just as a name on a
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  spreadsheet, right? Sometimes I'll see their little
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  Facebook picture in the Facebook, but then when everyone
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  arrives, there's this like electric spark of anxiety and
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  excitement. And, you know, everyone like
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  who's been there before, they kind of have this like
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  homecoming feeling, but still, you know, like excitement also.
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  And then all the people that are new to it, whether they're
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  traveling with friends or alone, they've got this nervousness
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  that is for me, it's like magnetic because I want to go on
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  like a like a, you know, a bug to a light.
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  I'm like, hi, I'm like, ma'am. And they're like, OK, you know,
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  and I'm like, welcome, you know, you're here.
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  You did it. And I think it takes people just
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  a moment to really, you know, really I think it's that like,
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  there's that kind of unsure, just feeling of like, OK, what's
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  next, you know? And what is this all about?
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  By the next morning, really, by the next day at lunch, there's
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  just like this collective, like, like just a sigh of like, OK, I
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  see what this is. I thought I was here for these
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  classes, but this is about these women in this community and this
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  feeling and this experience. And like, sure, the classes are
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  awesome, they're great and I'm going to learn a lot.
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  But this place, I can feel it in my bones.
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  And these people, they're all attracted to the same place for
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  the same reason. And not even everybody knows
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  what that reason is, but they all needed it.
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  It was calling them. And I always say, especially
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  these days, I'm like, you know what?
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  Don't let your friend talk you into coming.
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  If someone calls me and they're like on the fence, I'm like, no,
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  if this is not calling you, no, you know.
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  You're like that full body, yes. I want to say.
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  Please don't come. If this is calling you then it's
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  not for you. Like the people that are here
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  are like being just sucked in and it's it's awesome and, and
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  you can feel it. And this year, so every year has
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  kind of a feeling. And, you know, some years were
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  like, honestly, we've had like at least twice now that I can
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  remember freshly where we've been like day after election
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  years, you know, so people come in and there's just some rawness
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  about it and you can feel it in the air.
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  We always end up being just fine and everybody ends up doing
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  great. But there's just that, you know,
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  thing this year was so amazingly chill.
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  Like, like that is the best way to describe it.
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  It was so peaceful. Everyone was so just.
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  Calm and the weather was like perfecto sorry Danielle to but
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  like people were jumping in the river come.
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  On Lisa it pour rain, everybody was mean, nobody connected These
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  are the. Most hateful people you you.
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  Didn't know. I feel like every year that I
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  went, so I've gone four years or was it 5 years?
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  I can't remember. But every year that I've gone,
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  it's I've gotten something else out of it.
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  I know this sounds so woo woo, but like every year that I've
• 20:39
  gone, I've gotten exactly what I needed at that time.
• 20:42
  Yeah. Yeah.
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  You know, like. It's understandable I can which.
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  Is crazy because it's the same place like you keep.
• 20:49
  Yeah, and it's the same, but but it's complete.
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  I don't know, it's just the energy.
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  It's the same place, but it's a different animal every year
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  because of the different women who come.
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  So this year we had 40 new campers.
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  Wow. The year before we had 65 new
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  campers. So like, you know, there there's
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  every year it just kind of, you know, it's just changes
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  organically. It does have a different energy.
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  I still have, gosh, I bet you at least 40 campers who have been
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  coming, you know, they haven't made every single year.
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  But I mean, a lot of campers who've been there, at least 10.
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  Wow. That's a lot, that's a lot and,
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  and and well, and I it's so and it it's so first of all, I feel
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  like I need to say that like this is no little thing.
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  Like this is no like little like you're going someplace to an art
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  camp and like you think like this is like stone cabins on
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  this giant beautiful piece of land on the river.
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  And Lisa like flying around on a golf cart trying to get thing,
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  you know, drop things off to people who might need it or
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  managing things. So it's not this is not a little
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  thing. It's not like a one room thing.
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  You're, you're going out and about and you're meeting people
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  and you're having these lunches and you're having the fire and
• 22:14
  it's just this whole thing. But you're also making.
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  And I think that part of like, I wanted to say, what do you think
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  happens because you yourself said you didn't come at this
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  from an art background, but like, what happens to a woman
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  when she's creating whatever she's creating?
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  If it's ceramics, if it's a song without the pressure of being
• 22:35
  good at it. That, that's the key, right?
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  There's no one, no one at camp that is judging you by your
• 22:47
  artwork or any. I mean, like it's, you know, we
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  have artists with a capital A who come, but the majority of
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  people are there because they are drawn to creativity.
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  And I mean, one of the coolest things to me that happens, and
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  this goes back in history as something I think that is
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  paramount to women's existence and community is like, think
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  about the quilting table, you know, think about making food
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  together. So we've basically like when I'm
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  curating the classes, I try to get classes that are not just
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  art, not just craft, not just you know, so there's there are
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  things like like this year we had Tamale making.
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  That's another thing that it's best done as a party, you know,
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  it's best done with others. And so even gosh, felting like
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  any of these activities that you can do while sitting around the
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  table with a bunch of women and visiting, I mean, that is what
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  community is all about. So it doesn't matter the medium,
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  it doesn't matter. I mean, you could literally be
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  doing anything, you know, you, you could be playing tic tac
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  toe, but you're sitting around a table with other women and you
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  have just, you know, 3 hours of a class time where you're
• 24:36
  getting to be with those specific women who signed up for
• 24:39
  that specific time. And for me, it's all very
• 24:44
  without sounding too woo woo. It's all.
• 24:47
  Perfectly exactly the way it's supposed to be.
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  And, and that's what I always say too about the people who
• 24:54
  come like, if it doesn't work out for them to be here, they
• 24:58
  weren't meant to be here, you know, and.
• 25:01
  Exactly. Yeah, they're.
• 25:02
  Gonna end up, You might not get every class that you hoped to
• 25:06
  get in your schedule, but wherever you end up is where you
• 25:12
  were meant to be on that particular day at that
• 25:15
  particular time. And if you'll just sit in it and
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  keep your eyes and your ears open and your heart open, you
• 25:27
  could learn something about yourself, about other people,
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  and you could make some new friends.
• 25:35
  And you, we're not old enough. I mean, we're not too old to
• 25:38
  make new friends. Like we're not old enough to
• 25:40
  give up on making new friends. Like I keep wanting to remind
• 25:45
  myself of that. Like I have a really, really
• 25:48
  great group of local friends that I'm very tight with, but
• 25:52
  I'm always challenging myself to meet new people and make new
• 25:58
  friends and new relationships and learn new things.
• 26:02
  It's just that curiosity thing that I keep also reminding
• 26:07
  myself is so important. Hey everyone, I've got some
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  a special discount at checkout. It's not just like healing to do
• 26:50
  like these things that you know, but it's it's Oh my gosh, I
• 26:55
  forgot the word that I was going to say, but it's very rewarding
• 26:58
  and that wasn't even it either. OK, it's completely gone.
• 27:00
  It's fulfilling. It's it's like integrating
• 27:04
  yourself like it's it's keeping you young.
• 27:07
  You know, it's keeping us fulfilled in and it's
• 27:10
  challenging us. And I can still not think of the
• 27:12
  exact word, but I'm going to go on until it.
• 27:14
  Comes back. I especially I especially love
• 27:18
  the people like you or who who come alone.
• 27:22
  I mean, what bigger adventure like that?
• 27:26
  That is just like, to me, they're the badasses in the
• 27:29
  crew. You know, it's like that is so
• 27:33
  brave. And I want to know you because
• 27:36
  you just did something really brave.
• 27:38
  And what's really cool is like a lot of people do that and then
• 27:43
  they end up making friends there and then they come back, you
• 27:46
  know, and they end up bunking together.
• 27:48
  And it's, it's really, really, it's interesting because I
• 27:57
  think, you know, we can get to a certain age and that could be
• 28:01
  midlife where we put adventure on a shelf.
• 28:04
  And I don't want that. I don't, I don't want that.
• 28:08
  I'm not. I don't either.
• 28:09
  And I and I love, you know, one of the things that I love so
• 28:12
  much is, well, first I was going to say, you know, people come
• 28:16
  alone and I don't know if they can sense it like, but you've
• 28:19
  created a, a place that's safe to come alone like you can.
• 28:23
  And I don't just mean physically safe.
• 28:24
  I mean the people that you're, that you're cultivating the
• 28:29
  experience is very, it's very nurturing.
• 28:33
  And if you feel like you're like, you know, I am a bit.
• 28:36
  I remember Lisa Seeger, remember Lisa?
• 28:39
  See, I remember her speaking the first, the first camp.
• 28:42
  And at the end, she said something like, when I got
• 28:45
  invited to speak here, all I kept thinking is like, please,
• 28:48
  no one hug me. Like this is just not, you know,
• 28:52
  I'm not like a, a kumbaya. Like this is not my thing.
• 28:56
  And she was like, and now like, I want to hug you all Like, so
• 28:59
  it's just, it does bring that, that feeling, but also that
• 29:04
  there's women of all different ages.
• 29:05
  So like, we may be in midlife, but that doesn't mean everybody
• 29:10
  there is. And that's what's cool too.
• 29:12
  You've got this community of women.
• 29:14
  You've got women in their 20s, their 40s, their 60s and beyond.
• 29:18
  80s. 80s What happens when they're all making things side
• 29:22
  by side and learning from one another?
• 29:24
  I mean, you get to see that organic thing where, you know,
• 29:27
  the wisdom is passed on and it's so funny because, you know, the
• 29:32
  80 year olds are usually the better listeners and and the the
• 29:37
  younger gals are like talking, you know, talking, talking.
• 29:42
  And then all of a sudden you'll just get this nugget from the
• 29:45
  back, you know, that's like from the 80 something year old.
• 29:48
  And it's like you have this so figured out.
• 29:52
  Yeah, it's just so it's so good. I like, I love that aspect of
• 29:58
  camp of Lucky Star in that that age range is really cool.
• 30:05
  I love going around and taking pictures of people's hands
• 30:10
  making. And I have all these great
• 30:14
  pictures of hands of all ages making art.
• 30:17
  And it's just really that just made me think I need to do like
• 30:21
  some sort of a a collage or something out of that.
• 30:25
  But yeah, the age range is special.
• 30:31
  And, and, and by the way, what you just said about thinking or
• 30:39
  feeling like I've created a space that is welcoming to
• 30:46
  people who are flying solo is such a huge compliment.
• 30:51
  Like it's the best compliment that you could ever give me
• 30:55
  because I want everyone to feel welcome and included.
• 31:00
  And I do, my whole team works really hard at doing that.
• 31:07
  And and I think that is important for all of us.
• 31:11
  And the more I hear that, the more I really want to, you know,
• 31:18
  spread that out into the world beyond just Lucky Star, because
• 31:23
  it's so important back to like the, the making of things.
• 31:32
  You know, I talked about how women sitting around and making
• 31:37
  things together is so powerful because you get that time and
• 31:40
  the the wisdom of the the collective, right?
• 31:45
  Well, also just the simple act of making something with your
• 31:50
  own two hands is so empowering. And you know, we have a welding
• 31:56
  class. I don't know.
• 31:56
  Did you take welding when you? No, no, I didn't take welding,
• 31:59
  but that's amazing. So I mean, again, it's like you
• 32:05
  can, you can come to camp as I'm 51, you could come to a 51 year
• 32:11
  old woman and learn how to play the guitar for the first time in
• 32:15
  your life. You know, I mean, that's pretty
• 32:17
  awesome. You can.
• 32:18
  Weld and then perform. And you could, you could do Glee
• 32:23
  club. I mean, basically it started out
• 32:27
  just me like thinking up all of my favorite things.
• 32:29
  And I in choir, I was a total choir nerd and I loved all the
• 32:35
  choreography and choir and all of our shows and stuff.
• 32:38
  And I'm like, Mandy, can you please do Glee club?
• 32:41
  And she's like, OK, I can try that.
• 32:46
  And it has been a smash success. It has been the best thing ever.
• 32:52
  But but let's just face it, Mandy has been the best thing
• 32:55
  ever at at Lucky Star. But that's the thing like and
• 32:59
  you, that's the other thing I was going to say, I feel like
• 33:03
  you've created something and how do you go like, so how?
• 33:07
  Do you? So this is your baby, but you
• 33:11
  relinquish enough control to be like, Hey, what are the ideas
• 33:15
  from the outside, like from the collective?
• 33:18
  And like, you know, Mandy, the first year she didn't know.
• 33:21
  Nobody knew anything. The first year nobody knew any.
• 33:24
  I mean, some people knew each other, but very few.
• 33:28
  And and it was like, I don't want to say the blind leading
• 33:32
  the blind, but no one had. We had no idea what to expect.
• 33:36
  You couldn't have known exactly what to expect.
• 33:38
  This is the first year, but this was a first year person, Mandy
• 33:43
  Rowden, who I interviewed in Season 2.
• 33:46
  And and I will of course, link to this episode, but she's now
• 33:51
  like a a staple, like she is a staple, I want to say event in
• 33:57
  herself. And how do you kind of identify
• 34:01
  the women that you're that you're bringing in and that that
• 34:05
  continue to not just contribute, but to also offer their opinions
• 34:09
  to you? And how do you sort that all out
• 34:11
  like? You know, that is all.
• 34:14
  I mean it's different every year.
• 34:16
  It's, it can be kind of tricky sometimes, I will tell you that.
• 34:24
  So you know, my good friend and who's my assistant director,
• 34:30
  Sean Stratman, she and I actually met at Squam Art
• 34:35
  workshops in New Hampshire. I don't think it was the first
• 34:40
  year, but I think it was maybe the second year.
• 34:42
  I don't I can't remember that anyway, so Sean has been coming
• 34:50
  to camp and now helping me with camp for a long time now.
• 34:54
  So she has been like a trusted advisor.
• 34:57
  Of course, my girlfriends that are here local, you know, I run
• 35:01
  things past them. I have close relationships with
• 35:06
  many of the repeat instructors who I rely on because I know
• 35:12
  that they they get lucky star, you know what I mean?
• 35:17
  Like like they just get it. And so they know what I'm what
• 35:21
  I'm looking for. And I also love that we're kind
• 35:25
  of are growing together, you know what I mean?
• 35:28
  Like, let's take Shauna Martin for for example.
• 35:32
  So at the time that I first started, Lucky Star, Shauna was
• 35:39
  living here. She and her husband were living
• 35:41
  here in Hunt, and their kids were going to the Hunt school or
• 35:44
  mine were going to school. And so we met through school and
• 35:47
  I was having coffee with her one day at Starbucks in Kerrville.
• 35:51
  And I'm like, so I have this idea and blah, blah, blah.
• 35:55
  You know, well, Shauna's a really amazing artist and she
• 36:00
  was like, wait a second, I don't really understand the whole
• 36:04
  concept of like the show and tell thing.
• 36:09
  And show and tell was one of my very favorite things like in
• 36:12
  kindergarten. So so my my old tagline was
• 36:18
  Lucky Star Art Camp show and tell for Daydream believers.
• 36:23
  Yes, yes, it's all. Me, I mean that like a lot of
• 36:28
  people were attracted to that. Smarter people later have told
• 36:34
  me that I need, you know, in my marketing to be more specific
• 36:37
  about what I'm offering. So I did change that tagline,
• 36:41
  but it's still is a thread that runs through the heart of Lucky
• 36:45
  Star still to this day. But the idea was just that, you
• 36:54
  know, you come and you have this experience and then on the last
• 36:59
  night of camp, you have the opportunity.
• 37:03
  You don't have to, but you have the opportunity to show everyone
• 37:07
  your work, tell them about your experience in the class and do
• 37:12
  show and tell if you want to. You don't have to.
• 37:15
  And she was like, Oh my gosh, I totally get it.
• 37:19
  Like, yes, I understand that. And she still brings that up to
• 37:23
  this day. And you know, this year we had
• 37:26
  the longest show and tell line up to the stage that I've ever
• 37:30
  had. It was such a good, I mean, and
• 37:33
  just tears and just laughing. And I mean, we were, you know,
• 37:38
  you're either at camp, you're like either you're chilling,
• 37:42
  you're into something and you're making something and you're
• 37:44
  visiting, or you're laughing until you're about to pee your
• 37:47
  pants or you're, you know, crying.
• 37:49
  Like just having a moment of like, I see you with someone,
• 37:55
  you know, or I just hear you, or I've been there or joyful tears,
• 38:00
  you know, I mean, just all of those, all, all of the good, all
• 38:05
  the best things of life. Show and Tell Night is just like
• 38:10
  the best. I love show and tell.
• 38:12
  I still love show and tell. Well, that's what it's going to
• 38:14
  say because so I think I feel like people really like go
• 38:19
  through a metamorphosis over these couple days.
• 38:21
  Like you come in one way, you leave, you are like radiant,
• 38:27
  like you are lit up. And and then, and you even warn
• 38:31
  people like when they're leaving, you are lit up.
• 38:34
  If you left a spouse at home with the kids, they are not.
• 38:38
  Yeah. Like be down.
• 38:41
  Yeah, just be gentle like in your arrival.
• 38:44
  Because I do remember I, I, I travel, so I'm from New Jersey.
• 38:48
  So when I got home the first year, my parents picked me up.
• 38:50
  And I mean, I think I probably, they were probably like, get out
• 38:54
  of the car like, because I was like, you know, I am
• 38:58
  transformed. I am a new woman.
• 39:01
  Like I have learned so many things and I have learned so
• 39:04
  much about myself and what I maybe offer to the group and,
• 39:09
  and the community. And I, I wanted to ask you like,
• 39:12
  you know, you've done this for a while now, right?
• 39:14
  What do you see? Like how do people sustain that?
• 39:19
  Can you sustain it? But how do people sustain that?
• 39:21
  Like what kind of shifts have you seen in people's lives as
• 39:25
  they leave? Like when they get home, Do you
• 39:28
  hear about things? Because I feel like I've heard
• 39:30
  so many people that I've the first year went to camp with,
• 39:34
  like there have been so many huge life transitions.
• 39:36
  And of course that's that's partially just time going by.
• 39:40
  But I like to think some of it is because of Lucky Star.
• 39:43
  Like I like to think some of these creative impulses are
• 39:48
  started there, they originated there, and I just wanted to get
• 39:51
  your feedback on that. The first thing that came to
• 39:54
  mind because I thought you were just going to like, you know,
• 39:57
  what are their experiences when they get home?
• 40:00
  And. That's you though.
• 40:01
  The funniest things that I've seen posted are like, I'm really
• 40:04
  pissed off. There's no one making dessert
• 40:06
  for me and doing doing the dishes today, you know, like.
• 40:10
  Yes. So funny.
• 40:13
  And the food, my God, the food. The food is so good and there
• 40:19
  are people doing the dishes and we have dessert with every meal.
• 40:23
  So, you know, there's all of that.
• 40:28
  So many cool things. So, so many stories of really,
• 40:35
  really awesome projects that have been sparked, you know, at
• 40:41
  Lucky Star. So examples, I mean books have
• 40:45
  been written, people have become speakers.
• 40:51
  There are people who have done collabs on like, you know, using
• 40:56
  certain artwork, like you provide the fabric, one artist
• 41:02
  would provide the fabric and then the other artist would do
• 41:05
  leather tooling and make a bag with that fabric on it.
• 41:08
  Oh wow. Collabs like that Oh my
• 41:13
  goodness. So there have been several
• 41:17
  instances where I have like had to talk someone into coming and
• 41:21
  teaching for the very first time.
• 41:23
  I'm like, no, I think you're going to be really good at this
• 41:26
  and I this could add like a new aspect to your business and a
• 41:30
  new income stream, you know, if you can teach classes and like.
• 41:33
  So that has happened. And then they did continue.
• 41:38
  People who have actually going on to become art teachers at
• 41:44
  like schools. What else?
• 41:48
  I'm thinking, you know, I remember again, I, I'm sorry,
• 41:51
  this is all about my own experience.
• 41:52
  I'm so sorry. But freshman year, my first year
• 41:57
  there, was it my first year there and Leslie Leslie's first
• 42:01
  year there. So it would have been your first
• 42:06
  year there because I don't think Leslie taught that first year,
• 42:09
  no. No, no, she wasn't.
• 42:11
  She wasn't even an artist. She was still the.
• 42:15
  First year. Yes, and that's what she said.
• 42:18
  I remember we were in a class together and and she told me
• 42:20
  later that she said to the teacher real and she was a
• 42:24
  successful photographer. That's what she was.
• 42:27
  She was a wedding photographer. She had a successful business.
• 42:30
  That is what she did like she wasn't coming to.
• 42:33
  This isn't a career training. This isn't like the kind of camp
• 42:36
  like this isn't like a. You're not getting Ceus.
• 42:40
  Yeah, this is not at all this camp and so but she left at or
• 42:45
  she while there she was like I really I really wish I were an
• 42:49
  artist and now Leslie is an artist like that is how she.
• 42:53
  Makes her that is one of my favorite stories and I'm so glad
• 42:56
  you brought it up because she I mean, she just like turned the
• 43:02
  page and she was like, I'm all in on being an artist.
• 43:09
  And then she ended up teaching at Lucky Star gosh, probably 4
• 43:13
  times. And I mean she is a full blown
• 43:18
  working artist in Houston. And she's doing great.
• 43:22
  I mean, I don't know how, but she, I mean, I've got 4 kids.
• 43:25
  She's like, this is her job now. And I find that that like that
• 43:31
  kind of, I mean, you can just look that on your on your
• 43:35
  website is like this is like a testimonial, like these are
• 43:39
  things that have happened to you.
• 43:41
  Seriously, I, I just a Facebook post from one of my past campers
• 43:47
  who just opened her studio and did her first website ever.
• 43:54
  So she's going full time artist all of a sudden.
• 43:58
  So yeah, in like her first year, she was unsure and and I, it's
• 44:08
  just very, very cool to see those kinds of life changes play
• 44:16
  out. Absolutely.
• 44:18
  And and you know, that's another thing I wanted to talk to you
• 44:20
  about. You know, you just mentioned the
• 44:21
  Facebook group, so there's Lucky Star and it's a retreat, right?
• 44:26
  It's a camp, but it also becomes a community.
• 44:28
  People stay part of the whole year.
• 44:30
  What do you think happens when people are gathering this way
• 44:34
  that forge these bonds that keeps you connected all year
• 44:38
  long? I mean, we're talking about 5
• 44:40
  days here tops. You know, I think because we're
• 44:47
  all vulnerable with one another when we're at camp.
• 44:52
  And I mean, that's the, that's the key in building
• 44:59
  relationships, period. You have to be willing to be
• 45:04
  vulnerable with people and they will reciprocate and they will
• 45:11
  cheer for you and they will be your biggest fan.
• 45:16
  And I think when that happens at camp, when we get to see each
• 45:23
  other's. But OK, so you know, one of the
• 45:28
  things that happens at camp is that you like to get to get to
• 45:34
  be a kid again. In a sense you, I mean like it's
• 45:38
  not unheard of to go lay on the ground in the grass under a big
• 45:43
  tree and just stare there at the canopy of the tree and just lie
• 45:48
  there for hours, you know, or, or you know, try something
• 45:54
  completely new, like a sound bath, you know, And like, so
• 46:00
  when you do these new things, it like brings emotion to the
• 46:05
  surface when you are like thinking about like, I haven't
• 46:10
  colored something since I was a child.
• 46:14
  And like people are sitting around coloring in their tote
• 46:17
  bags that we do every year. And I don't know, I just think
• 46:22
  like, OK, this is so sweet. This year a new camper came to
• 46:27
  me and said, this has made me feel so much like a child again
• 46:34
  and remember myself as a child that it makes me miss my mom so
• 46:40
  much. And I'm just like, Oh my gosh,
• 46:43
  I, I couldn't understand that, you know?
• 46:46
  But like getting to put all the seriousness of the world aside
• 46:53
  for even just five days can make a huge difference.
• 46:58
  It just cracks people open and reminds them of who they really
• 47:04
  are because we just keep stacking stuff on, you know,
• 47:08
  and, and we just get so busy and we're just spinning out all the
• 47:12
  time. And so when you are forced to
• 47:15
  kind of slow down and be with yourself and try something hard
• 47:23
  and maybe fail at it and like be like, Oh my gosh, I suck at
• 47:28
  making a broom. This is really not what I'm
• 47:32
  going to be doing for the rest of my life.
• 47:34
  But it taught me something about myself.
• 47:37
  I can try hard things. I can do hard things.
• 47:40
  I have a broom here. I did this, but it's not
• 47:46
  necessarily going to be my new favorite hobby, but like seeing
• 47:56
  people struggling and then winning or struggling and then
• 48:02
  having, you know, like an emotional like breakthrough.
• 48:06
  I mean, you just that those experiences that are shared just
• 48:13
  tightens the group. I mean, and then you want to
• 48:16
  continue cheering people on. You want to see what's going on
• 48:21
  in their life. You want to do life with them,
• 48:25
  even if it's from 1,000,000 miles away.
• 48:28
  You just keep that little thread, that little tether and
• 48:33
  and it's it's really cool because no one else, no one else
• 48:38
  in your world may have anything to do with lucky Star or know a
• 48:44
  single soul at Lucky Star. But having that little tether to
• 48:50
  your people at Lucky Star, that community just gives you this
• 48:54
  like boost of self esteem of just like it's a little secret
• 49:00
  that you have that you keep to yourself.
• 49:05
  I've had people come and tell me I'm not telling a soul about
• 49:08
  this. I don't want anyone else to know
• 49:10
  that they're like, I'm keeping this all to myself.
• 49:14
  But we it's, it's really cool to get to, to see people evolve.
• 49:24
  But I mean, you know, just like in real life, outside of Lucky
• 49:30
  Star, people are out there in the world experiencing all kinds
• 49:34
  of things, good, bad, ugly. And it's, you know, we're all
• 49:41
  humans and we're all craving that connection.
• 49:46
  Quick pause to invite you into the war community.
• 49:49
  War is all about amplifying women's voices, and you can be
• 49:52
  part of it. I share the messy, unfiltered
• 49:55
  behind the scenes stuff in my emails, things you won't hear
• 49:58
  anywhere else. Sign up at listen to roar.com
• 50:02
  and get in on the real talk. And hey, if this episode hit
• 50:05
  home, don't keep it to yourself. Share it, drop a comment or pass
• 50:09
  it to that one friend who needs to hear it.
• 50:11
  Every share helps bring more women's stories into the
• 50:14
  spotlight. All right, let's get back to the
• 50:16
  episode. I wasn't going to mention this,
• 50:18
  but it's it's lending itself. So I'm just going to put it out
• 50:21
  there. The world right now in 2025 is
• 50:24
  like super volatile, like people are not that nice to each other
• 50:30
  online or I mean, especially online, but it's kind of
• 50:34
  spilling over, right? Like you just hear these
• 50:37
  instances. There's there's just so much
• 50:38
  volatility and people feel so strongly about all their all
• 50:42
  their things, myself included. I'm not I'm not trying to shift
• 50:45
  the blame like it's, it's a it's a tough time in the world, but I
• 50:51
  feel like lucky star transcends that.
• 50:55
  And I feel like is that is community can transcend it.
• 51:01
  You know, I've read like something before where people do
• 51:04
  these dinners, like they have these dinners and I can't even
• 51:07
  remember because it might be several examples at once, but
• 51:09
  they'll have these dinners where like they invite just like
• 51:13
  disparate members of the community who wouldn't normally
• 51:15
  like really get along politically or racially or
• 51:20
  gender, whatever it is. They they wouldn't naturally get
• 51:22
  along, but it's really hard, hard to like be mean to somebody
• 51:27
  who's handing you a bread basket and like, it's really hard to
• 51:31
  not see the humanity when you're saying, hey, will you help me
• 51:35
  mix these paints like. Absolutely.
• 51:40
  To me that is the recipe to the answer to all of our problems.
• 51:45
  It's it's the equivalent of the like 2 fighting children in one
• 51:49
  big T-shirt. It's like you put them in there
• 51:54
  together and you make them work it out.
• 51:57
  And it's not even like a forced situation here.
• 52:01
  It's you just it's hard to be ugly to someone who is sitting
• 52:11
  at the table next to you making, you know, struggling with the
• 52:16
  same crochet as you are. You know what I mean?
• 52:19
  And like asking the same questions as you are and having
• 52:24
  the same joyful experiences as you are.
• 52:27
  You it, it's easy from, you know, your desk or your computer
• 52:34
  to be mean to people. I mean, it's not for me, but I
• 52:39
  can see how it's easy, much easier, but to someone's face
• 52:45
  when you're sitting with them and when you're having an
• 52:48
  experience together. I think I honestly think that's
• 52:53
  the answer to all of our problems.
• 52:55
  Because it's like. Together, even if they like this
• 52:58
  whole thing of dividing and you know, the tribal, like there's
• 53:05
  so many things about a tribe that is good, but there's also
• 53:11
  there, there are bad things that come with that.
• 53:13
  And the division is just, it's not productive and it's just not
• 53:21
  the way that I, it's not the way that I want.
• 53:24
  I think when you sit down and you're, you know, whether you're
• 53:27
  talking about like your crafter, but you overhear someone say
• 53:30
  something like, my daughter's going to really like this or
• 53:33
  like, you know, I know I've made things and been like, oh, I'm
• 53:37
  going to bring this home for Ruby.
• 53:38
  Like, you know, she's going to love this acrylic bracelet that
• 53:41
  I just learned to make at art camp today.
• 53:43
  And, and you and then someone's like my daughter too.
• 53:48
  Does she like blah, blah, blah. And then and you get in these
• 53:51
  conversations that are, that show how much you have in
• 53:55
  common, you know, like there's just so much more, like we're
• 53:58
  all appreciating this great food and this wonderful experience.
• 54:03
  It's just I, I, I hope you, I get, I hope you get to keep it
• 54:06
  up forever because I feel like there's that too.
• 54:11
  I hope so, too. Yeah.
• 54:12
  We all have so much more in common than we have
• 54:17
  indifferences. And I think if we can focus on
• 54:21
  those things, and I always say like, leave all the BS at the
• 54:25
  gate, you know, don't bring it in.
• 54:27
  Just just don't even bring it in here.
• 54:30
  Well, 'cause and the rest of it, you rely on each other to
• 54:33
  uplift. Like, and you know, thinking
• 54:35
  about I, I, I, I've brought this up to you before and I don't
• 54:38
  know who this woman was because I never saw her again, but she
• 54:42
  was the, their, she was their freshman year.
• 54:44
  She was there the first year I was there and we were in Juliet
• 54:48
  Crane's art class, which was amazing.
• 54:50
  And at the time it was different.
• 54:52
  It was like all day, right? Wasn't it?
• 54:54
  All day? Like some, some of the, there
• 54:55
  were 8 hours. Yeah, we were there like all
• 54:58
  day. You know you are like fast
• 55:00
  friends like. You.
• 55:01
  You know everything about somebody's life if you spent 8
• 55:04
  hours painting with them. And we did.
• 55:07
  And this woman, I remember she was a local art teacher or local
• 55:11
  ish. She had a son.
• 55:14
  I don't know. She hadn't painted in a long
• 55:15
  time. Maybe she had been an art
• 55:17
  teacher. But I remember her and we went
• 55:20
  in to eat and she was like, I can't show this painting to
• 55:23
  anybody. And she actually was like
• 55:25
  crying. She's like, this is like, and
• 55:28
  we're like, no, no, we support you.
• 55:30
  We love you. We know it's going to be awesome
• 55:32
  to the point where she was going to show it to us.
• 55:34
  And I remember starting to panic because I was like, what if it
• 55:37
  is as bad as she says? Like, how are we going to
• 55:41
  counter this? Like, yeah, because we built her
• 55:43
  up so big. We're like, it's the probably
• 55:46
  magnificent. It should.
• 55:47
  It belongs in a museum. And and of course, it was
• 55:51
  totally fine. Like, it was a totally beautiful
• 55:54
  painting. Like it probably wasn't going to
• 55:56
  go in a museum, but it absolutely was not something
• 55:59
  that you'd be like, what is this wretched thing doing here?
• 56:02
  And I I feel like that's the part.
• 56:04
  Like you leave everything else at the gate and then you rely on
• 56:08
  you kind of have to have this like trust that these women are
• 56:13
  actually going to be here. This is not like a caddy women
• 56:17
  gathering. This isn't like a Mean Girls
• 56:20
  episode these. Those out the gate.
• 56:23
  Yeah, it is like you are being really carried and lifted up by
• 56:29
  the women around you. So I think that that I think
• 56:33
  that really says something about women too, that we are willing
• 56:36
  to be that vulnerable with each other, you know, and really put
• 56:39
  ourselves in this like complete, like you said, people are either
• 56:42
  intently working, they're laughing or they are actually
• 56:45
  crying and not, not every place welcomes that.
• 56:50
  Right, right. So thank you.
• 56:53
  I have one last question and then I will go let you go and go
• 56:57
  pick my daughter up from school. But if a woman listening feels
• 57:00
  that tug, she knows she needs community, creativity or a
• 57:04
  shift. But she's scared.
• 57:06
  She doesn't see another stroller walking past her front window
• 57:09
  and decide to get in the mail. What would you tell her about
• 57:13
  what's waiting for her on the other side of Yes?
• 57:19
  Open arms, you know, I would say go for it.
• 57:25
  And and even if you, let's just say you try to sign up for Lucky
• 57:30
  Star and it's sold out, you know, get on the wait list.
• 57:34
  Number one, get on the wait list because we do a lot of times get
• 57:38
  to the wait list. And if you don't get to come
• 57:45
  next year, find something in your community that has that
• 57:53
  same feel, something where you, you know, you don't have to be
• 58:00
  good at it. Like if, if they're like, OK, so
• 58:03
  I was just at a place having lunch the other day and I met
• 58:07
  this woman. She was so sweet and cute.
• 58:11
  And I heard her, I overheard her talking about mahjong.
• 58:15
  And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm about to learn how to play
• 58:17
  mahjong at camp and blah, blah, blah.
• 58:19
  You know, we had mahjong this year, by the way.
• 58:22
  And so she's like, really, well, we do mahjong over here at this
• 58:28
  place on Monday nights. You should come join us.
• 58:31
  And like, I don't know how to play mahjong.
• 58:34
  And it's like the Chinese version of mahjong.
• 58:36
  And I just learned the American version of mahjong.
• 58:39
  But I'm like, you know what? I'm not going to pass that
• 58:43
  opportunity. This woman just told me that I
• 58:46
  can walk into this room and that there will be other women in
• 58:50
  there who will love to teach me how to play.
• 58:54
  I'm like, that is what it's all about.
• 58:57
  Like I'm just going to sign it. I'm just going to go.
• 59:01
  I'm just going to show up. And I think I'm going tonight
• 59:03
  actually for the first time, I think I'm going to go.
• 59:08
  But that's the kind of be brave, be brave.
• 59:12
  Make a deal with yourself that you're going to try.
• 59:14
  And even if you go and it's a total, you know, you feel like
• 59:18
  it's just a flop, try again. Don't ever stop trying because
• 59:23
  you're going to find your people.
• 59:26
  My husband kept telling me that he was so supportive.
• 59:29
  He's like you're going to find your people That is awesome.
• 59:33
  You can also create go like having hosting bunco and I
• 59:45
  didn't know all the people in my community, but I knew like 2
• 59:48
  people and I was like, well, who would you put on the list and
• 59:50
  who should I invite? You know?
• 59:52
  And so we got together and just invited a bunch of people.
• 59:55
  And that is such a great game because you're trading partners
• 59:58
  constantly, you know, throughout the night.
• 1:00:00
  So you're getting to play with the other person being on your
• 1:00:04
  team, you know, and then you switch and you're so you get to
• 1:00:08
  learn, you get to meet a lot of different people and we had the
• 1:00:11
  best time. So like, look for things.
• 1:00:14
  I would say just look for things where.
• 1:00:17
  What you're really craving is not necessarily the art or the
• 1:00:22
  thing. You're not.
• 1:00:23
  Necessarily bunco or the broom. Yeah, you're craving the
• 1:00:27
  connection with anyone. Someone.
• 1:00:31
  Where are my people? We're here.
• 1:00:33
  We're here. We're out there in the world.
• 1:00:36
  Just you just have to keep looking and and you'll find it.
• 1:00:39
  It won't be hard. When you find your people.
• 1:00:42
  It won't feel hard. It'll feel easy.
• 1:00:45
  Those are your people. Lisa, thank you so much.
• 1:00:49
  This episode is our last 1 of Season 3 is going to come out
• 1:00:52
  right before the holidays because I feel like it's like
• 1:00:56
  like a good wish for good, like holiday season with your family
• 1:01:00
  and like community. And it's like the time where, I
• 1:01:03
  don't know, my very favorite Christmas movie is Scrooged with
• 1:01:06
  Bill Murray. And he says, you know, it's not
• 1:01:10
  too late. It's not too late to go like
• 1:01:14
  call your old college roommate, call your friend.
• 1:01:16
  And that's how I feel about Lucky Star and what you did.
• 1:01:19
  So thank you for, for being part of my holiday season, but also
• 1:01:23
  for, for, you know, really bringing Lucky Star to my life
• 1:01:31
  all those years ago. Because I will say, I think it
• 1:01:33
  it, it came at just the right time.
• 1:01:36
  So thank you so much for being here.
• 1:01:38
  Thank you for having me. And that's our conversation with
• 1:01:41
  the one and only Lisa Field, founder of Lucky *, Curator of
• 1:01:45
  Courage, and the woman who proved that sometimes the thing
• 1:01:48
  you're craving is exactly the thing you're meant to build.
• 1:01:52
  Thanks so much for listening. Be sure to come by next week
• 1:01:54
  when we're speaking with Sheldon Bartlett Rumor.
• 1:01:57
  I'm so excited for you to meet her.
• 1:01:58
  Sheldon is CEO of This Is It, TVA Media powerhouse, champion
• 1:02:03
  of female founders and the woman behind one of the most
• 1:02:05
  intentional visibility platforms for women in Business Today.
• 1:02:10
  So hit, follow, hit, subscribe, tell a friend and meet me back
• 1:02:13
  here next week. We'll see you then.