Building Creative Community for Women: Inside Lucky Star with Lisa Field
What happens when you give women five days away from their lives—with art supplies, gourmet meals, a river, a campfire, and zero pressure to be anything but themselves?
In this episode of Roar, host Danielle Davies sits down with Lisa Field—founder and director of Lucky Star, a five-day creativity and whole-living sleepaway camp for women held every fall in the Texas Hill Country.
Since 2012, Lisa has welcomed hundreds of women to Camp Waldemar, where they paint, weld, write, dance, felt, play guitar, eat, float in the river, and reconnect with who they are when no one needs a spreadsheet…or a snack.
What started as one woman’s longing for community has grown into a decade-strong creative ecosystem—one that has shaped careers, sparked friendships, inspired books and businesses, and reminded women that adventure doesn’t have an expiration date.
Lisa speaks with warmth, candor, and humor about creativity, midlife reinvention, the courage to show up alone, and the magic that happens when 100+ women trust their instincts and say yes to themselves.
Together, Danielle and Lisa talk about
🌟 The moment Lisa realized women needed more than “a break”—they needed creative community
🏕️ How Lucky Star evolved from a daydream into a thriving annual camp
🫶 Why women struggle to give themselves permission to step away from their lives
🎒 What shifts in the first 24–48 hours when women arrive—nervous, excited, uncertain—and begin to exhale
🎨 Why creativity without pressure is transformational (and why it’s never about being “good”)
👯♀️ What happens when women of all ages—20s through 80s—learn side-by-side
🔥 Why women who show up solo are “the badasses of the group”
🎤 The story behind Lucky Star’s legendary Glee Club, welding classes, tamale making, and late-night campfire moments
💛 The power of Show & Tell night—laughter, tears, courage, connection, and being truly seen
🌈 How camp catalyzes reinvention: new businesses, books, collaborations, income streams, and creative awakenings
Lisa’s work is a testament to what happens when women gather, make things, share stories, and dare to choose themselves. This conversation is for anyone craving connection, creativity, and a reminder that it is absolutely not too late to reinvent, express, or expand.
🔑 Key Takeaways
Creativity is community—women have always bonded through making.
Your life expands the moment you give yourself permission to step away from it.
Being a beginner is power, not shame.
Adventure doesn’t belong to youth; it belongs to anyone who refuses to put themselves on a shelf.
Women need spaces where they’re welcomed as they are—introverts, extroverts, hug-averse, or hug-seeking.
Reinvention often begins with one small yes.
Listen to ROAR with Danielle Davies: Women, Culture & Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. New conversations every Tuesday.
Full Transcript
This transcript was generated automatically and lightly cleaned up. It may contain small errors.
Hi, I'm Danielle Davies and you're listening to Roar, a show that amplifies the voices of women breaking barriers, leading change, and making real impact. Keep listening for bold ideas and stories that inspire you to find your voice and make some noise. Hi everybody, this is Danielle Davies, your host of Roar. Today's guest has built the thing that so many of us d day daydream about. A place where women get to run away to camp, make things with their hands, eat gorgeous food, sit under the stars, and remember who they are when no one needs a snack or a spreadsheet from them.
Lisa Field is the founder and director of Lucky Star, a 5-day creativity and whole living sleepaway camp for women held every fall in the Texas Hill Country. Since 2012, she's welcomed hundreds of women to Camp Walddemar on the banks of the Guadalupe River for workshops in everything from painting and writing to welding, apothecary, guitar, yoga, and more, plus live music, gourmet meals, and late night campfire conversations. What started as Lisa's passion project has grown into a vibrant community of women who stay connected well beyond that week. a thriving network of creative women who keep cheering each other on all year long. We're going to talk about how Lucky Star came to be, why creativity is such a powerful catalyst for women, especially for those of us in midlife, and what happens when you put a 100 plus women together in the woods with art supplies, good music, and no laundry.
Lisa, welcome to Roar. Hi, Danielle. Oh my god, I love hearing it all just like read out that way. It's just especially having just been there last week, week before last, I'm just I'm still like it still gives me goosebumps. Yeah, you've got to have that tingly feeling.
I can't I want to not say it, but I have to. So, I was going to change the intro and be like Lisa is my personal fairy godmother. so I this isn't wasn't part of the official intro, but it would be wrong for me to not mention when the very first year Lisa gave away a tuition the and it's a whole long story of how we got to that point, but I me Daniel Davies won anything in my life. ones. I won a $2 honorable mention for Grapes con costume in a Halloween break and then I won lucky star which was a huge win and I will say I think it changed the trae trajectory of my life.
It was like the best thing ever and I almost am annoyed that Lisa is saying how great last week was because I wasn't there this year and it I hate to rub it in. you have to rub it in. But so this is super personal for me and I feel like every woman deserves this for themselves. Although Lisa is going to be booked out for the next 30 years, every November. So Lisa, let me ask you the first question.
When you first dreamed this up, what gap were you seeing in women's lives? Like what were women hungering for that you felt camp could give them? So, it was a little more selfish than that. That's totally fair. It was literally like what did I need at that time in my life?
And I was a young mother who gosh, so my husband and I got married in ' 03. So, it was probably 2009 when I discovered something similar to Lucky Star. And I since high school have always loved doing events and I even had like my trigonometry teacher was my student council sponsor and [snorts] we had to do prom my junior year. We were in charge of the prom and she I credit her to teaching me how to throw an event like manage it from the ground up. I mean like she taught me how to do not just a tiny little high school event but like how to do events.
And I have used this I mean this is something I use in my job. It's something that I use daily with in my life. So, I've always wanted to do I had always wanted to do events. And so, just imagine like I'm a young mom. I have, you know, I'm like surrounded by babies.
I have three stepkids that are 7, 8, and 12 when we got married. So, they were, you know, on up there. And like, so we're busy, busy, busy. And we're living in the town that my husband grew up in. and my husband had friends in but I was a transplant there.
So I just I wanted people. " And I would strategically hi check my mail and be like, "Oh, hi. Oh, you have a baby. " You know, like, "Please be my friend. " You know, and that's just how I felt.
And I like I knew I wanted to do something also just to bring women together. I had started going to like a Bible study and I had started trying different things, you know. So then my husband and I moved to the Hill Country to Hunt, Texas, where we live now. And I started watching this was in the era of like do you remember when Martha and Snoop first got together? Okay, so like and my timeline is probably way out of whack, but I remember specifically Martha Stewart's show.
Maybe not the Snoop part yet, but she would show these beautiful farms where there were like artisans making cheese and garden, you know, all the like gardens and whole foods and then like they were making yarn from the sheep's wool and all these things. And I was just like, "Oh my gosh, we're moving to hunt. We're going to be living on a farm. like I want to learn how to do all these things. And so I would just start watching like all these YouTube videos and that is when I ran across this video of an art retreat that was at a campground in New Hampshire.
And I was like this this is it. And like I'm seeing the joy on these women's faces and they're in these classes and they're making things and I really had zero art background. I mean I'm always like I've always been like a Jill of all trades, you know, like I can I can figure that out. I can do that, you know, or I would try stuff and I was in 4 and we did like all kinds of little projects and stuff, but I never ever dreamed that I would have anything to do with art or crafting. I mean, as a business especially, but really even like other than just at home, like I was sewing, you know, for my baby.
Right. Right. like you're crafting, right? Never did I imagine that I would go down the path of an art retreat. I mean, no.
But when I saw this, I'm like, okay, I'm in this beautiful place in Hunt, Texas, where it's like the capital of summer camps. I mean like beautiful old summer camps that are just dreamy and I was like so dreamy sorry possibly have the spot right and then I mean I can just start reaching out to these people that I'm seeing on like Martha Stewart's show right and just ask them would you come and teach classes and then I can just start putting it out there in the world that I want to do this and see what happens And so in the meantime, I decided I'm signing up and going to whatever that place is that I just saw in that video. So I did that. I went and I went for three years. Did you really?
Okay. Loved it. So I first went in 2010 to Squam Art Workshops. and just fell in love with the whole idea of it and this the structure of it even and I'm like could I do this? Could I do this?
And after is Guam is Squam men and women? No, it's women. It's just women. Okay. It's women only.
At least it was back then. I don't know. I don't know if it if they've included men now or not. but yeah, I went and I was like, "This is it. This is absolutely it.
" I just started building it. I just started a Facebook and I started, you know, doing my trying to figure out the name of it and all that stuff. I just started doing it and it just kind of grew and grew and grew a little bit at a time. " This was yours. this was my baby, right?
So, if I can get these two on board, you know, [snorts] I can do this. And so, I think the first year, the first year was in 2013 and I think I probably had like 44 campers and plus in, you know, plus some instructors, like probably 20 instructors. I don't even think I broke 80 that year. Really? I feel like it was more than that.
Maybe. Okay, maybe I'm wrong. People ask me this and I have the number 44 stuck in my head for some reason, but I also remember that scary minimum that I had to meet with my contract at Wdemar. That was 80. I had to book.
Yeah, I wanted to say like I felt like it was eight. Maybe I did have 78. That sounds probably right because I remember them making like they were like, "Yeah, you made it. " And they were so good to me. They were really good to me.
They still are. They're they're awesome. And well, you know, going back to that time, I remember, you know, first hearing about it before I entered the con contest and seeing it and I saw the pictures and it was like you described dreamy. I remember going even to get my haircut and showing my hairdresser like, "Look at this. Is this not the most like dreamy thing?
Like would you not just kill to go to this? And people were like, I guess. I'm like, no, no, no. It's calling me. Like, it is calling me.
I have to go. But now before I won, and I'll tell you, even after I won, one of the things that almost kept me back was I can't leave my life. I've got these little kids. I've got obligations. people have sports or boy scouts or school and homework and dinners and all these things and you've watched this over the years.
You've watched hundreds of women debate whether they deserve that week away. What does that hesitation tell you about how women see themselves and like what shifts once they finally show up? It has taught me a lot. it's taught me a lot because I probably would have had I probably had the same exact feeling, you know, of like I can't do this. I remember having to in my mind justify it.
But I also I also am like when I got married I'm I was like I never want number one I never want to marry someone that I feel like I have to ask permission to ever. I have a father you know that was like one of my goals in life and I got that with my husband. I mean he's awesome. So, I have to consider the fact that there are lots of people who are in relationships who feel like they would need full buy in, you know, or that they wouldn't have the support. I'll say it like that.
They wouldn't have the support that I had. And I know this. Okay. So, with that said, I've learned so much about women in that they may think it's that or something like that or work or kids or whatever. It's them.
It's totally just them themselves holding themselves back. I mean, it really is us. Like we are so hard on ourselves and we think we're way more important than we I mean we are obviously very important. We don't prioritize like that. Prioritize our Yeah.
Yeah. And it and Yeah. I feel like and that's the thing like it took me winning it and then hearing and I was so I remember when I won I was like screaming like my little son was in the shower my husband was like washing his hair. I mean, this is how long ago my son's 20 like and he's washing his hair and I'm like I won like I won this big thing like I won this crazy thing and I'm like but I can't I actually was like but I can't go and my son my little son was like but mommy you have to like you won and it's because you it's so hard to prioritize yourself I think when you're so used to prioritizing the people around you know and it's not that I didn't I had support everybody was like get out. Like, get your bags and go.
[snorts] but and guess what? Everything was okay right when you got back. Totally fine. And even better, actually, cuz I was like, better. Mhm.
Yes. Yes. I had that reset. Well, and tell me this too. You know, so many women, myself included, arrive at Lucky Star by themselves, especially their first year.
They're nervous. They're unsure. They might be a little lost. They may think like I did briefly in the airport, this could be some elaborate hoax, what transformations do you see in those first 24 to 48 hours when they settle in? Oh gosh.
So that first day, you know, at well, all year long, I see everyone just as a name on a spreadsheet, right? Sometimes I'll see their little Facebook picture in the Facebook, but then when everyone arrives, there's this like electric spark of anxiety and excitement. And you know, everyone like who's been there before, they kind of have this like homecoming feeling, but still, you know, like excitement also. And then all the people that are new to it, whether they're traveling with friends or alone, they've got this nervousness that is for me it's like magnetic because I want to go like a like a, you know, a bug to a light. " you know, and I'm like, "Welcome, you know, you're here.
" And I think it takes people just a moment to really, you know, really, I think it's that like there's that kind of unsure just feeling of like, okay, what's next, you know, and what is this all about? By the next morning, really by the next day at lunch, there's just like this collective like [sighs and gasps] like just a sigh of like, okay, I see what this is. I thought I was here for these classes, but this is about these women and this community and this feeling and this experience and like sure the classes are awesome. They're great and I'm going to learn a lot. But this place, I can feel it in my bones.
And these people, they're all attracted to the same place for the same reason. And not even everybody knows what that reason is, but they all needed it. It was calling them. And I always say, especially these days, I'm like, you know what? Don't let your friend talk you into coming.
If someone calls me and they're like on the fence, I'm like, no. If this is not calling you, no. You know, you're like that full body. Yes. I want to say please if this is not calling you then it's not for you like the people that are here are like being just sucked in and it's it's awesome and you can feel it and this year so every year has kind of a feeling and you know some years we're like honestly we've had like at least twice now that I can remember freshly where we've been like day after election years, you know, so people come in and there's just some rawness about it and you can feel it in the air.
We always end up being just fine and everybody ends up doing great, but there's just that, you know, thing. This year was so amazingly chill. Like that is the best way to describe it. It was so peaceful. Everyone was so just calm and the weather was like perfecto.
Sorry Danielle, but like people were jumping in the river. Come on, Lisa. It poured rain. Everybody was mean. Nobody connected.
Yeah, these are the most hateful people. You didn't know. I feel like every year that I went, so I've gone four year or was it five years? I can't remember. But every year that I've gone, it's I've gotten something else out of it.
I know this sounds so woo, but like every year that I've gone, I've gotten exactly what I needed at that time. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like that's understandable. I can Which is crazy because it's the same place.
Like you keep and it's the same but it's complete. I don't know. It's just the energy. Well, it's the same place, but it's a different animal every year because of the different women who come. So this year we had 40 new campers.
Wow. The year before we had 65 new campers. So like you know there's every year it just kind of you know it just changes organically. It does have a different energy. I still have, gosh, I bet you at least 40 campers who have been coming.
You know, they haven't made every single year, but I mean, a lot of campers who've been there at least 10. Wow. Yeah. That's a lot. That's a lot.
And and well, and I it's so and it's so first of all, I feel like I need to say that like this is no little thing. Like this is no like little like you're going someplace to an art camp and like you think like this is like stone cabins on this giant beautiful piece of land on the river and Lisa like flying around on a golf cart trying to get thing you know drop things off to people who might need it or managing things. So it's not this is not a little thing. It's not like a one room thing. you're you're going out and about and you're meeting people and you're having these lunches and you're having the fire and it's just this whole thing, but you're also making and I think that part of like I wanted to say what do you think happens because you yourself said you didn't come at this from an art background but like what happens to a woman when she's creating whatever she's creating if it's ceramics if it's a song without the pressure of being good at it.
That's the key, right? there's no one no one at camp that is judging you by your artwork or any I mean like it's [clears throat] you know we have artists with a capital A who come but the majority of people are there because they are drawn to creativity and I mean, one of the coolest things to me that happens, and this goes back in history as something I think that is paramount to women's existence and community is like, think about the quilting table, you know, think about making food together. So we've basically like when I'm curating the classes, I try to get classes that are not just art, not just craft, not just, you know, so there's there are things like this year we had tamalei making. that's another thing that it's best done as a party, you know, it's best done with others. And so even gosh felting like any of these activities that you can do while sitting around the table with a bunch of women and visiting.
I mean that is what community is all about. So it doesn't matter the medium. It doesn't matter. I mean you could literally be doing anything. You know, you could be playing tic-tac-toe, but you're sitting around a table with other women and you have just, you know, 3 hours of a class time where you're getting to be with those specific women who signed up for that specific time.
And for me, it's all very without sounding too woo, it's all perfectly exactly the way it's supposed to be. And that's what I always say too about the people who come like if it doesn't work out for them to be here, they weren't meant to be here, you know? And Exactly. You're going to end up, you might not get every class that you hoped to get in your schedule, but wherever you end up is where you were meant to be on that particular day at that particular time. And if you'll just sit in it and keep your eyes and your ears open and your heart open, you could learn something about yourself, about other people, and you could make some new friends.
And we're not old enough. I mean, we're not too old to make new friends. Like, we're not old enough to give up on making new friends. Like, I keep wanting to remind myself of that. Like I have a really great group of local friends that I'm very tight with, but I'm always challenging myself to meet new people and make new friends and new relationships and learn new things.
it's just that curiosity thing that I keep also reminding myself is so important. Hey everyone, I've got some exciting news. I'm partnering with Louie. That's L U Wii. A company that's reimagined women's health through the lens of the P word.
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That's R O A R15 for a special discount at checkout. It's not just like healing to do like these things that you know, but it's it's oh my gosh, I forgot the word that I was going to say, but it's very rewarding. And that wasn't even it either. Okay. Completely gone.
It's fulfilling. It's it's like integrating yourself. Like it's it's keeping you young, you know? It's keeping us fulfilled in and it's challenging us. And I can still not think of the exact word, but I'm going to go on until it comes back.
I especially I especially love the people like you were who come alone. I mean, what bigger adventure like that is just like to me they're the badasses in the crew, you know? It's like that is so brave and I want to know you because you just did something really brave and what's really cool is like a lot of people do that and then they end up making friends there and then they come back you know and they end up bunking together and it's it's really it's interesting because I think you know we can get to a certain age and that could be midlife where we put adventure on a shelf and I don't want that. I don't I don't want that. I'm not right.
I don't either. And I and I love [clears throat] you know one of the things that I love so much is well first I was going to say you know people come alone and I don't know if they can sense it like but you've created a place that's safe to come alone like you can and I don't just mean physically safe. I mean the people that you're that you're cultivating the experience is very it's very nurturing and if you feel like you're like you know I am a big I remember Lisa Seager remember Lisa Se I remember her speaking the first the first camp and at the end she said something like when I got invited to speak here all I kept thinking is like please no one hug me like this is just not you know I'm not like a kumbaya like this is not my thing and she was like and now like I want to hug you all like so it's just it does bring that feeling but also that there's women of all different ages so like we may be in midlife but that doesn't mean everybody there is and that's what's cool too you've got this community of women you've got women their 20s their 40s their 60s and beyond 80s what happens when they're all making things side by side and learning from one another I mean you get to see that organic thing where you know the wisdom is passed on and it's so funny because you know the 80year-olds are usually the better listeners and the younger gals are like talking you know talking and then all of a sudden you'll just get this nugget from the back you know that's like from the 80some year old and it's like [gasps] ah you have this so figured out. Yeah. It's just so it's so good.
Like I love that aspect of camp of Lucky Star in that age range is really cool. I love going around and taking pictures of people's hands making. And I have all these great pictures of hands of all ages making art. And it's just really that just made me think I need to do like some sort of a collage or something out of that. But yeah, the age range is special.
And and by the way, what you just said about thinking or feeling like I've created a space that is welcoming to people who are flying solo is such a huge compliment. like it's the best compliment that you could ever give me because I want everyone to feel welcome and included and I do my whole team works really hard at doing that and I think that is important for all of us and the more I hear that the more I really want to you know spread that out into the world beyond and just lucky star because it's so important. back to like the making of things. You know, I talked about how women sitting around and making things together is so powerful because you get that time and the wisdom of the collective, right? Well, also just the simple act of making something with your own two hands is so empowering.
And you know, we have a welding class. I don't know. Did you take welding when you No, no, I didn't take welding, but that's amazing. So, I mean, again, it's like you can you can come to camp as a I'm 51. You could come to a 51y old woman and learn how to play the guitar for the first time in your life, you know?
I mean, that's pretty awesome. You could and then perform and you could you could do Glee Club. I mean, basically, it started out just me like thinking up all of my favorite things and I choir. I was a total choir nerd and I loved all the choreography and choir and all of our shows and stuff. " And it has been a smash success.
It has been the best thing ever. But let's just face it, Mandy has been the best thing ever at Lucky Star. But that's the thing like and you it's that's the other thing I was going to say. I feel like you've created something and how do you go about like so how do you so this is your baby but you relinquish enough control to be like hey what are the ideas from the outside like from the collective and like you know Mandy the first year she didn't know nobody knew anything the first year nobody knew any I mean some people knew each other but very few and it was like you I don't want to say the blind leading the blind. But no one had, we had no idea what to expect.
You couldn't have known exactly what to expect because it's the first year. but this was a first year person, Mandy, who I interviewed in season two. And I will of course link to this episode, but she's now like a staple, like she is a staple, I want to say event in herself. And how do you kind of identify the women that you're that you're bringing in and that continue to not just contribute but to also offer their opinions to you? And how do you sort that all out?
Like you know that is always I mean it's different every year. It's it can be kind of tricky sometimes. I will tell you that. so you know, my good friend and who's my assistant director, Sean Strapman, she and I actually met at Squam Art Workshops in New Hampshire. I don't think it was the first year, but I think it was maybe the second year.
I don't I can't remember. And anyway, so Sean has been coming to camp and now helping me with camp for a long time now. So she has been like a trusted adviser. Of course, my girlfriends that are here local, you know, I run things past them. I have close relationships with many of the repeat instructors who I rely on because I know that they get Lucky Star, you know what I mean?
Like they just get it and so they know what I'm what I'm looking for. And I also love that we kind of are growing together. You know what I mean? Like let's take Shauna Martin for example. So, at the time that I first started Lucky Star, Shauna was, living here.
She and her husband were living here in Hunt and their kids were going to the Hunt school or mine were going to school. " You know, well, Sean is a really amazing artist. and she was like, "Wait a second. " And showand tell was one of my very favorite things like in kindergarten. So my old tagline was Lucky Star Art Camp Show and Tell for Daydream believers.
Yes. Yes. It sold me. I mean that like a lot of people were attracted to that. smarter people later have told me that I need you know in my marketing to be more specific about what I'm offering.
So I did change that tagline but it still is a thread that runs through the heart of Lucky Star still to this day. But the idea was just that you know you come and you have this experience and then on the last night of camp you have the opportunity. You don't have to but you have the opportunity to show everyone your work, tell them about your experience in the class and do show and tell if you want to. You don't have to. " Like, yes, I understand that.
And she still brings that up to this day. And you know, this year we had the longest show and tell line up to the stage that I've ever had. It was such a good I mean and just tears and just laughing and I mean we were you know you're either at camp you're like either you're chill and you're into something and you're making something and you're visiting or you're laughing until you're about to pee your pants or you're you know crying like just having a moment of like I see you with someone you know or I can hear you or I've been there or joyful tears you know, I mean, just all of those all the good all the best things of life. Show and tell night is just like the best. I love show and tell.
I still love show and tell. Well, and that's what I was going to say cuz so I think I feel like people really like go through a metamorphosis over these couple days. Like you come in one way, you leave, you are like radiant. like you are lit up and then and you even warn people like when they're leaving, you are lit up. If you left a spouse at home with the kids, they are not.
Yeah. Like be down. Yeah. Just be gentle like in your arrival cuz I do remember I have I travel so I'm from New Jersey. So when I got home the first year, my parents picked me up and I mean I think I probably they were probably like get out of the car like cuz I was like, you know, I am transformed.
I am a new woman. Like I have learned so many things and I have learned so much about myself and what I maybe offer to the group and the community. And I wanted to ask you like you know you've done this for a while now, right? What do you see like how do people sustain that? Can you sustain it?
But how do people sustain that? Like what kind of shifts have you seen in people's lives as they leave? Like when they get home, do you hear about things? Cuz I feel like I've heard so many people that I've the first year went to camp with. Like there have been so many huge life transitions.
And of course that's that's partially just time going by, but I like to think some of it is because of Lucky Star. Like I like to think some of these creative impulses are started there. They originated there and I just wanted to get your feedback on that. The first thing that came to mind because I thought you were just going to like you know what are their experiences when they get home and that's you though the funniest things that I've seen posted are like I'm really pissed off there's no one making dessert for me and doing the dishes today, you know. Yes.
So funny. and the food, my god, the food. The food is so good. And there are people doing the dishes and we have dessert with every meal. So, you know, there's all of that.
so many cool things, so many stories of really awesome projects that have been sparked, you know, at Lucky Star. So examples I mean books have been written, people have become speakers. there are people who have done collabs on like you know using certain artwork like you provide the fabric. One artist would provide the fabric and then the other artist would do leather tooling and make a bag with that fabric on it. Oh wow.
collabs [clears throat] like that. oh my goodness. So, there have been several instances where I have like had to talk someone into coming and teaching for the very first time. I'm like, no, I think you're going to be really good at this and I this could add like a new aspect to your business and a new income stream, you know, if you can teach classes. And like so that has happened and then they did continue.
people who have actually gone on to become art teachers at like schools. what else? I'm thinking, you know, I remember again I'm sorry. This is all about my own experience. I'm so sorry.
I just But freshman year, my first year there, was it my first year there and Leslie's first year there? so it wouldn't have been your first year there because I don't think Leslie taught that first year. No, no, no. She wasn't a she wasn't even an artist. She was still a photographer.
She was just there. She was a wedding photographer. She became the first year. Yes. And that's what she said.
I remember we were in a class together and she told me later that she said to the teacher, I really And she was a successful photographer. That's what she was. She was a wedding photographer. She had a successful business. That is what she did.
like she wasn't coming to this isn't a career training. This isn't like the kind of camp like this isn't like a you're not getting cus. Yeah. This is not at all this camp. And so but she left or she while there she was like I really I really wish I were an artist.
And now Leslie is an artist. Like that is how she makes her living. That is one of my favorite stories. And I'm so glad you brought it up because she I mean she just like turned the page and she was like I'm all in on being an artist. And then she ended up teaching at Lucky Star gosh probably four times.
And I mean she is a full-blown working artist in Houston and she's doing great. I mean, I don't know how, but she I mean, she's got four kids. She's like, this is her job now. And I find that like that kind of I mean, you can just that on your on your website is like this is like a testimonial. Like these are things that have happened here.
Seriously, I just saw a Facebook post from one of my past campers who just opened her studio and did her first website ever. So, she's going full-time artist all of a sudden. So, yeah. and like her first year she was unsure and I it's just very cool to see those kinds of life changes play out. Absolutely.
And you know that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. You know you just mentioned the Facebook group. So there's Lucky Star and it's a retreat right? It's a camp, but it also becomes a community people stay part of the whole year. What do you think happens when people gather in this way that forge these bonds that keeps you connected all year long?
I mean, we're talking about five days here tops, you know. I think because we're all vulnerable with one another when we're at camp. And I mean, that's the that's the key in building relationships, period. You have to be willing to be vulnerable with people and they will reciprocate and they will cheer for you and they will be your biggest fan. And I think when that happens at camp, when we get to see each other's Okay.
So, you know, one of the things that happens at camp is that you like get to get to be a kid again in a sense. you I mean like it's not unheard of to go lay on the ground in the grass under a big tree and just stare there at the canopy of the tree and just lie there for hours you know or you know try something completely new like a sound bath you know and like so when you do these new things it like brings emotion to the surface when you are like thinking about like I haven't colored something since I was a child and like people are sitting around coloring in their tote bags that we do every year and I don't know I just think like okay this is so sweet this year a new camper came to me and said this has made me feel so much like a child again and remember myself as a child that it makes me miss my mom so much. And I'm just like, "Oh my gosh, I can understand that, you know, but like getting [clears throat] to put all the seriousness of the world aside for even just 5 days can make a huge difference. It just cracks people open and reminds them of who they really are because we just keep stacking stuff on, you know, and we just get so busy and we're just spinning out all the time. " You know, this is really not what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life.
But it taught me something about myself. I can try hard things. I can do hard things. I have a broom here. I did this, but it's not necessarily going to be my new favorite hobby.
But like seeing people struggling and then winning or struggling and then having, you know, like an emotional like breakthrough. I mean, you just that those experiences that are shared just tightens the group. I mean, and then you want to continue cheering people on. You want to see what's going on in their life. You want to do life [snorts] with them.
Even if it's from a million miles away, you just keep that little thread, that little tether. And it's it's really cool because no one else no one else in your world may have anything to do with Lucky Star or know a single soul at Lucky Star. But having that little tether to your people at Lucky Star, that community, just gives you this like boost of self-esteem, of just like it's a little secret that you have that you keep to yourself. I've had people come and tell me, "I'm not telling a soul about this. " but we it's it's really cool to get to see people evolve.
But I mean, you know, just like in real life outside of Lucky Star, people are out there in the world experiencing all kinds of things, good, bad, ugly. And it's, you know, we're all humans and we're all craving that connection. Quick pause to invite you into the ROAR community. ROAR is all about amplifying women's voices and you can be part of it. I share the messy, unfiltered, behindthe-scenes stuff in my emails, things you won't hear anywhere else.
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I wasn't going to mention this, but it's it's lending itself, so I'm just going to put it out there. The world right now in 2025 is like super volatile. like people are not that nice to each other online or I mean especially online but it's kind of spilling over right like you just hear these instances there's there's just so much volatility and people feel so strongly about all their all their things myself included I'm not I'm not trying to shift the blame like it's it's a it's a tough time in the world but I feel like Lucky Star transcends that and I feel like is that is community can transcend it. You know, I've read like some thing before where people do these dinners like they have these dinners and I can't even remember because it might be several examples at once, but they'll have these dinners where like they invite just like disperate members of the community who wouldn't normally like really get along politically or racially or gender w they wouldn't naturally get along. But it's really hard to like be mean to somebody who's handing you a bread basket.
" Like, yes, absolutely. To me, that is the recipe to the answer to all of our problems. It's it's the equivalent of the like two fighting children in one big t-shirt. It's like you put them in there together and you make them work it out. And it's not even like a forced situation here.
It's you just it's hard to be ugly to someone who is sitting at the table next to you making, you know, struggling with the same crochet as you are. You know what I mean? and like asking the same questions as you are and having the same joyful experiences as you are. You It's easy from, you know, your desk or your computer to be mean to people. I mean, it's not for me, but I can how it's easy, much easier.
But to someone's face when you're sitting with them and when you're having an experience together, I think I honestly think that's the answer to all of our problems. Yeah. " Like, you know, she's going to love this acrylic bracelet that I just learned to make at Art Camp today. And you and then someone's like, "My daughter, too. " And then to and you get in these conversations that are that show how much you have in common.
Yeah. You know, like there's just so much more. Like we're all appreciating this great food and this wonderful experience. It's just I I hope you I get I hope you get to keep it up forever because I feel like there's that, too. I hope so, too.
Yeah. We all have so much more in common than we have indifferences. And I think if we can focus on those things and I always say like leave all the BS at the gate, you know, don't bring it in. Just don't even bring it in here. Well, cuz and the rest of it you rely on each other to uplift like and you know, thinking about I I brought this up to you before and I don't know who this woman was because I never saw her again, but she was the there she was there freshman year.
She was [snorts] there the first year I was there and we were in Juliet Crane's art class which was amazing. And at the time it was different. It was like all day, right? Wasn't it all day? Like some of the eight hours.
We were there like all day. You know, you are like fast friends. Like you know everything about somebody's life if you spent eight hours painting with them. And we did. And this woman I remember she was a local art teacher or localish.
She had a son. I don't know. She hadn't painted in a long time. " And she actually was like crying. " And we're like, "No, no, we support you.
We love you. " To the point where she was going to show it to us. " like cuz we've built her up so big. We're like it's the probably magnificent. It should it belongs in a museum.
And of course it was totally fine. Like it was a totally beautiful painting. " And I feel like that's the part like you leave everything else at the gate and then you rely on you kind of have to have this like trust that these women are actually going to be here. This is not like a caddy women gathering. This isn't like a mean girls episode.
These throw those out the gate. Yeah. It is like you are being really carried and lifted up by the women around you. So I think that I think that really says something about women too that we are willing to be that vulnerable with each other, you know, and really put ourselves in this like completely like you said, people are either intently working, they're laughing, or they are actually crying. Yeah.
And not every place welcomes that. Right. Right. So thank you. I have one last question and then I will go let you go and go pick my daughter up from school.
But if a woman listening feels that tug, she knows she needs community, creativity, or a shift, but she's scared. She doesn't see another stroller walking past her front window and decide to get in the mail. what would you tell her about what's waiting for her on the other side of Yes. open arms. you know, I would say go for it.
And even if you let's just say you try to sign up for Lucky Star and it's sold out, you know, get on the wait list. Number one, get on the wait list because we do a lot of times get to the weight list. And if you don't get to come next year, find something in your community that has that same feel, something where you, you know, you don't have to be good at it. Like if they're like, okay, so I was just at a place having lunch the other day and I met this woman. and she was so sweet and cute and I heard her I overheard her talking about ma jang and I'm like oh my gosh I'm about to learn how to play ma jang at camp and blah blah you know we had maong this year by the way and so she's like really well we do ma jang over here at this place on Monday nights you should come join us and like I don't know how to play ma jang and it's like the Chinese version of ma jang and I just learned the American version of Maong.
But I'm like, you know what? I'm not going to pass that opportunity. This woman just told me that I can walk into this room and that there will be other women in there who will love to teach me how to play. I'm like, that is what it's all about. Like, I'm just going to sign up.
I'm just going to go. I'm just going to show up. And I think I'm going tonight, actually, for the first time. I think I'm gonna go. but that's the kind be brave.
Be brave. Make a deal with yourself that you're going to try. And even if you go and it's a total, you know, you feel like it's just a flop, try again. Don't ever stop trying because you're going to find your people. This my husband kept telling me that.
He was so supportive. " That is awesome. You can also create go like having hosting bunko and I didn't know all the people in my community but I knew like two people and I was all well who would you put on the list and who should I invite you know and so we got together and just invited a bunch of people and that is such a great game because you're trading partners constantly you know throughout the night so you're getting to play with the other person being on your team, you know, and then you switch and you're so you get to learn, you get to meet a lot of different people and we had the best time. So like look for things. I would say just look for things where what you're really craving is not necessarily the art or the thing you're not necessarily Bunko or the broom.
Yeah. You're craving the connection with anyone someone. Where are my people? We're here. We're here.
We're out there in the world. Just you just have to keep looking and you'll it won't be hard. When you find your people, it won't feel hard. It'll feel easy. Those are your people.
Lisa, thank you so much. This episode is our last one of season 3. is going to come out right before the holidays cuz I feel like it's like a good wish for a good like holiday season with your family and like community and it's like the time where I don't know my very favorite Christmas movie is Scrooged with Bill Murray and he says you know it's not too late it's not too late to go like call your old college roommate call your friend and that's how I feel about Lucky Star and what you did so thank you for being part of my season, but also for, you know, really bringing Lucky Star to my life all those years ago because I will say I think it it came at just the right time. So, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me.
And that's our conversation with the one and only Lisa Field, founder of Lucky Star, curator of courage, and the woman who proved that sometimes the thing you're craving is exactly the thing you're meant to build. Thanks so much for listening. Be sure to come by next week when we're speaking with Sheldon Barllet Rumor. I'm so excited for you to meet her. Sheldon is CEO of This Is It TV, a media powerhouse, champion of female founders, and the woman behind one of the most intentional visibility platforms for women in business today.
So, hit follow, hit subscribe, tell a friend, and meet me back here next week. We'll see you then.
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