Inspirational Women Of the Speaking Circuit: How Lisa Bien Aims To Remind Us That You Can Change Your Story, Reset Your Life & Create Your Very Best Life

I want everyone to feel empowered to truly live the life of their dreams. My main message is that you can change your story, reset your life and overcome adversity and create your very best life once you learn how to understand who you are, respect, trust and love yourself.

As a part of our series about Inspirational Women of the Speaking Circuit, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lisa Bien.

She is among the most sought after motivational speakers, media personalities, educators and authors whose platform continues to reach the masses. Lisa’s “Morning Motivation” segment on Philadelphia’s PHL17 TV Morning News Program is a hit with viewers, where her tips on a variety of topics including relationships and family dynamic to empowering your life and handling the challenges of living during the pandemic.

From a struggling single mom who lost her job, filed bankruptcy, and finalized her second divorce all in one month, Lisa used these events to fuel her determination to change the direction of her life and create her best life.

A noted media personality who hosts her own Temple TV program, Your Best Life with Lisa, formerly known as BOUNCING BACK with Lisa Bien!, where with humor and raw honesty, Lisa helps her guests confront and bounce back from serious personal and professional struggles.

Lisa is an author of three books, Life Happens: Bounce Back! and Divorce Happens: Bounce Back!, lay out the Bouncing Back philosophy she developed as she overcame her own personal hardships, while 111 Ways to Bounce Back, continues her inspiring message, guiding others to bounce back from life’s challenges using her tips and focused journaling.

Combining her trademark high energy and passion for storytelling to guide people on a journey of self-love, compassion and kindness she created Lisa Bien, Enterprises, LLC, delivering workshops and programs to transform lives. Her audiences raved that her core message — you can overcome any challenge by first learning to love and trust yourself — is universal and motivating. When she speaks, it’s like she is talking directly to you. Lisa has walked the walk.

Lisa lives in New Jersey. Her proudest accomplishments are her sons, Jacob and Ari. When she is not home, you can find her on stages around the country, inspiring others to learn how to create their best life!

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up? Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia. My dad left when I was 2 and did not come back. My father’s absence impacted me, as I’ve struggled with feelings of abandonment most of my life. I was also lucky to have a kind stepfather who worked two jobs, along with my mom working full time, so they could provide for my two brothers and me. After high school, I worked three jobs to put myself through college. I never knew what it meant to “live with a silver spoon,” but those early lessons of survival have taken me far. My roots in the Northeast are very important to me. I am still close with the small group of friends I grew up with.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

What most stands out to me is not a story, but an element, equally interesting as it is important. My message seems to resonate with so many people. It seems that we are all “perfectly imperfect,” but no one feels safe enough to talk about it. The women who have come to me with tears in their eyes, thanking me for opening and talking about my battle with low self-esteem, because it helped them to open up, too. Life is sometimes a battle, and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t suffered at one time or another. It’s a common denominator.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Would falling backward on a stage as I was doing a standup comedy routine count?

Or, the times I overcompensate for my Philly accent and I wind up butchering words anyway. As my sons about the way I say the word huge and you would all have a big laugh.

That being said, I look at mistakes as a learning experience. When I started public speaking, I was just so excited to be asked to share my message that I spent more time preparing for the presentation and the delivery of it. I did not focus on keeping the relationship going after I left the stage. People would spend time talking to me after each presentation, they would buy books and I would happily sign them and then said goodbye. What I know now is that as an educator and speaker I want to do more than just speak, sell and sign books. I want to maintain connections. I truly value them.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My children are my greatest source of strength and I am most grateful for their love, encouragement and ongoing support. There was a time that I was struggling with my schedule and I was thinking about giving up my TV show at Temple. My older son, Jacob, asked me, “Why?” He said, “Are you thinking about giving it up because you are not great at it yet?” Wow! What insight. It was like someone threw a bucket of frigid water in my face. He was right. I was letting my insecurity get in my way and fearful that I was not good enough.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

Anything worth doing takes effort, passion and hard work — lots of hard work. You can do anything you put your mind to. But be careful what you tell yourself because after a while you will believe it. Focus on what you can do and remind yourself that you will do it. It not a race either, slow and steady and will still get you where you want to go.

What drives you to get up every day and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?

I want everyone to feel empowered to truly live the life of their dreams. My main message is that you can change your story, reset your life and overcome adversity and create your very best life once you learn how to understand who you are, respect, trust and love yourself.

Can you share with our readers a few of your most important tips about how to be an effective and empowering speaker? Can you please share some examples or stories?

• Be authentic. No one likes a fake. Or maybe it’s me that does not like a fake, anyway, be you. When you are speaking do not try to be someone you are not. Use your true voice.
• Be a good storyteller. Keep a notebook handy, or a really good system to remember all the stories you want to share. Think about the story and what can it do for you as a speaker and then what can your audience learn from that particular story.
• Be the teacher and remember that you are there for the audience. It is always about the audience. Remember, it’s not about you — it’s about them and what wisdom you can impart.

As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?

• Be passionate about your topic. The more you enjoy talking about your topic the easier it will be to practice and feel natural to share during the presentation.
• Prepare — Preparation is key. A good strong outline filled with research and facts is the foundation of a great speech.
• Practice, practice and practice — Just when you think you are done, practice some more. The more you practice the more you will feel prepared and ready to knock it out of the park.
• Find a Friendly Face — I always look for a friendly face and use that person as my go-to face when I am speaking. It’s like having a friend in the audience who reminds you that you got this.
• Eat Healthy and Exercise — Speaking takes a lot of energy, both physical and emotional. Eat for energy and exercise for endurance so you can truly give it your all.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

• No one will care like you do. While you will work with freelancers, vendors, mentors, etc., no one will care about your business, your goals like you. They will help you and guide you, but ultimately you have to remember you are not their priority. You are your own priority.
• No one has all the answers. I thought one person would help me start my speaking career. I thought everyone I talked to had the answer. Turns out it’s like a good recipe — there is always a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Ultimately, you really need to get good at where you gather information and what you use and what you don’t.
• Find Your Niche. Do not try to be all things to all people. I started my platform for women. People tried to convince me to use my message for men, too. I tried, but I believe my niche is women who are looking to shake off the shame and negativity and create their very best life.
• Learn the Business of Speaking. I spent a lot of time building my platform, writing books and articles. I was focused on building my credibility as a speaker, but at the same time I should have been learning about the industry. Join associations and listen to webinars. Most everything you need is on the internet. Do the research. Become educated about the business of speaking.
• Build the Relationship. As a rookie public speaker, I was always more excited about the prospect of selling a book. While I always valued my audience, I didn’t focus enough on building a relationship with them while we were together and ultimately gaining the information that would allow us to stay connected.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

The pandemic has really given me time to stop and reflect on my work. I never thought I would say this, but I am thinking about writing a fourth book. A book of lessons I wish I knew and paid attention to in my 20s.

I am working on introducing more online classes.

I am really taking more time to enjoy life — every day. For the first time, I took off the month of August.

What’s next? I am not sure. But I do know I am thankful to be here today and I hope my life continues to be rich, full and meaningful.

Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices or treatments that you do to help your body, mind or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.

Recently, I hired a nutritionist to learn how to incorporate a healthy balanced diet. A few years ago, I started a skin care routine that I wish I started years ago. Every day, I find some time for me. I need “me” time.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. — Lucille Ball

Believe in yourself, and the rest will fall into place. Have faith in your own abilities, work hard, and there is nothing you cannot accomplish. — Brad Henry

Both of these quotes are meaningful. Once I learned how to love myself and believe in myself, I started to think and feel different. I was able to create the life I wanted.

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would remind everyone that we truly get to create the life we want. Ultimately, we all have to do the work alone, but there is nothing wrong in seeking support from others along the way.

I am blessed to have had so many great mentors in my life. And I still do.

I want to pay that forward. I would love to see a mentor movement. I know we have National Mentor Day. I would like to take that one step further and challenge every school and business to include a mentor program in their business goals and objectives to recognize and celebrate all the power and importance of mentorship.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

I would like to have lunch with Dr. Edith Eva Eger, Holocaust survivor and author of “The Choice: Embrace the Possible.” At 92, Dr. Eger’s story is so powerful, and still so relevant. What she lived through, and how she took her life and made it her mission to help others is beyond extraordinary to me. She is a gift and a hero.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

• Facebook: @lisabien111
• Instagram: lisabbien
• Twitter: @lisabien
• Website: www.LisaBien.com
• LinkedIn: LisaBien