When you need a real shift, one standout retreat is worth 1,000 routine team meetings.
Experience Design & Facilitation
Catalyze the change you seek with a thoughtfully designed, expertly facilitated experience.
Experiences done right can drive transformation: Of strategy, of connections, of relationships, and of culture.
And while transformation doesn’t happen over night, the right experience can accelerate it, achieving in a concentrated time what might have taken you months otherwise.
I’ve taught middle school English, trained large teams, designed conferences, facilitated company-wide retreats, coached groups, and designed and facilitated countless sessions and series.
The thread that connects all of these diverse gatherings? Great experiences generate feeling. In addition to learning content, an experience that transforms leaves participants feeling connected, inspired, motivated; or maybe clear, relieved, and purposeful. That feeling plus the integration of new skills and ideas will drive change - not in the future, but right now.
Whatever feeling you’re aiming for, a regular old team meeting rattling off agenda items can’t achieve that. You need an experiece.
Whether you’re planning a board retreat, a leadership team retreat, a strategic planning session, or you just have a hunch your team needs some time together—I craft and lead transformative and brave spaces designed to build clarity, capacity, and connection all at once.
That retreat met each of us where we were, and inspired us to becoming the authentic leaders and professionals we inspire to be. If it were not for Lia's intentionality at the very beginning to get to know who we were as an organization, our retreat would not have been as productive, engaging, and thoughtful.
-Mer Curry Nuñez, Executive Director, Northern California College Promise Coalition
Any of these sound familiar?
You scheduled a leadership team retreat because you know it’s important to spend time together. But now what? You’re not sure what to cover and what would be the best use of everyone’s time.
Your team is trying to tackle something in bite-sized meetings and it’s not working. You know you need more time and space, but you’re not sure how to create it and make it effective.
You have a feeling that there are things under the surface that are impacting your team, but you’re not sure how to create a space safe enough to address them.
You’re in the midst of change or transformation, but there’s not enough space or time in the day to day to tackle the big, meaty questions.
You want to create opportunities for authentic connection and cohesion among your team, but you’re not sure how to start—and you want to participate, not facilitate.
Exceptionally designed gatherings should shift people from one way of thinking or being into another—not just in theory, but in practice.
This might look like a team going from:
Confused to clear
Individuals doing projects to a team working towards a vision
Disconnected to connected
Scattered to coherent
Disjointed to aligned
Lackluster to rallied
Together, we’ll figure out what your team is really craving or needing to make change happen, and create an experience that drives towards that shift. Not for the future. For now.
I create experiences alongside…
Leaders whose teams, big and small, are tackling a strategic question or challenge.
Teams looking for new ways to deepen connection, alignment, and cohesion.
Teams who want a non-traditional way to tackle a strategic challenge or project.
Teams or leaders looking to catalyze a shift—in strategy, in ways of being, in mindset, in relationships.
Teams ready to roll up their sleeves and engage in a process—you’ll have a role to play!
Leaders and teams who are willing to be flexible or be pushed on the purpose of an experience
Are we a fit?
I don’t create experiences for…
Leaders or teams who just want to show up on retreat day without contributing beforehand.
Leaders and teams in a toxic dynamic that would make a retreat or connective space impossible.
Leaders doing a retreat or gathering to check a box.
Leaders who know exactly what kind of retreat or space they want and are unwilling to be pushed.
The brass tacks
Sometimes leaders come to me when they know they want to do a gathering, and have maybe a rough idea of its purpose. Other times, a leader will come to me about something else, and through conversations or work together, we’ll realize that a gathering could catalyze the results they’re looking for.
In either case, we start by defining the purpose of the gathering, as best we can, as well as clarifying who will be participating, the timing of the gathering, the location, and any other key details
Next, I often do a discovery process (especially if you’re new to me!) so I can deeply understand your organization and its context. This adds value in its own right—you get strategic consulting in addition to experience design.
Sometimes based on the discovery, the purpose and/or key details of the experience shift. That’s okay! We want to let needs emerge.
Once we’ve nailed the objectives, I create a draft agenda, and we iterate on it.
I create any pre-work, slides, or any other materials needed, and share these materials with your team. Then it’s go time!
Afterwards, we have a debrief discussion to capture learning and insights for next time.
If this sounds like the support you need, let’s talk.
Lia is an incredibly thoughtful and thorough planner and facilitator. Each member of our team felt that each session with Lia was valuable, insightful, and helped move us towards our goals.
— Ally Thurman, Director of Strategic Projects, New Door Ventures
Hi, I’m Lia.
I am a transformational coach, deft facilitator, clarity conjurer, relationship whisperer, and the mother of two small humans.
I know from personal experience that being a high-achieving, goal-oriented leader and a feeling, sensitive person can be a lot to hold at once. Despite consistently outperforming my goals and earning lots of accolades over my career, in the second of my highest-stakes role as an Executive Director, I hit a rough patch that changed forever how I lead and how I think about what’s possible for leaders and teams. I emerged from that rough patch a more evolved and grounded person and leader, convicted that a different kind of leadership is not just possible, but exponentially more impactful and sustainable.
Now, I bring my 20+ years of experience to my work with clients, who, despite their brilliance and potential, question their intuition, spin their wheels or feel stuck. They know that what got them here won’t get them where they want to go, but aren’t sure how to move forward.
I help purpose-driven leaders and teams facing uncharted territory explore big ideas, navigate complex emotions, and anchor to what matters most so they can achieve the impact they seek—more grounded and confident than ever.