Creating a Ripple Effect: Leadership, Culture, and Joy with Lisa Even

Creating a Ripple Effect: Leadership, Culture, and Joy with Lisa Even

All right. Welcome back to the Daily Mastermind, George Wright III with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. And I'm excited to have a guest today, Lisa Even. How are you?

I'm good.

I love your name because it's, it's Even—at first I was like, where are we going with this? But it just plays really well. I love it. And I love your brand.

Thank you.

The reason I wanted to have Lisa on the show today is because we talk about how it's never too late to create the life you are meant to live—your best life, your best lifestyle. Lisa is a speaker and coach, and she says she’s a “culture and joy connoisseur,” which I love. She's spoken to organizations across industries and is a well-known expert in leadership and workplace culture. One thing she emphasizes is “helping you and your team happen to the world, and not the other way around.” So I want to start by asking what that means and if you can tell us more about your background.

Yeah, absolutely. That’s like my life’s mantra: You happen to the world, not the other way around. As leaders—or even just as people leading our own lives—there are things that happen to us, and I always ask, "Well, what are you going to do to happen to it?"

We don’t control everything, but we definitely influence a lot. I grew up with humble beginnings—my dad worked at a car dealership, and my mom was a hotel housekeeper. We didn’t have much, and college was never assumed.

I remember in high school, during an internship, a woman asked me, “Where are you going to college?” I replied, “We don’t pay for a piece of paper in our family.” My dad didn’t believe in loans for a job you weren’t guaranteed.

She looked me in the eye and said, “Honey, the world is really big out there. Do you want to go?” I said, “Yeah, kind of.” And she replied, “Okay, let’s do it.” That moment changed my life. She made a ripple effect in my world, and I think about her—Brenda—almost every day.

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The Ripple Effect in Leadership

That’s such a powerful way to start this episode because the ripple effect really is everything. At The Daily Mastermind, we talk a lot about our 12 Prosperity Pillars. The first couple are: “I create my life” and “I take personal responsibility.” When you have the intention that you are creating your life, you can begin to create that ripple effect. So let’s dig into this a bit. You weren’t born a speaker and coach—tell us about that journey and how it brought you here.

I grew up in healthcare. I was a non-clinical healthcare leader with many people reporting to me. One of the mantras I created was: “Have good ripple effect.” Everything you say and do at work and at home is a ripple—happy or crappy, it’s your choice.

At first, no one noticed. But a year or two later, I overheard someone say, “Was that good ripple effect?”—they were self-checking. That was a turning point. We eventually moved from Wisconsin back to Iowa to be near family. When we moved, I decided it was time to get into training and speaking, and it’s been a joyfully wild ride ever since.

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Leadership and Culture Are Personal

That’s amazing. You’ve really focused on leadership and culture. Why those two things?

Because they affect us more than we realize. There’s a quote I love: “Your leader and coworkers can have more impact on your mental health than your therapist or your doctor.”

We spend over 90,000 hours at work in our lifetime. I want those hours to be productive and joyful. I want people to have fun, feel seen, and get a lot done. So when I hear someone say, “Ugh, my job,” I always think: You need a better leader.

Exactly. And I can tell you have great energy—probably always have. But some of that must come from doing what you love. If people did more of what they love, they’d have more energy. But what about people who aren’t happy? They can’t control their leaders. Where do you start?

I always say: You don’t have to have my energy—but if you need to borrow some, I’ve got you.

We start with questions like: “What’s your favorite season?” Fall? Spring? Then: “What do you do to prepare for that season?”

They say things like scarves, pumpkin spice, patio drinks—whatever it is. Then I say: “What if people prepared for YOU?”

What if people thought: Oh, she’s coming down the hall—I better brace for it. We don’t always realize how we’re showing up.

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Awareness Is a Superpower

I love that idea. “How do you show up?” That’s powerful. People really care about their look and how they’re perceived, so why not consider how they’re perceived emotionally or energetically too? I’ve had people say, “You’re really busy,” and I think, I’m here, I’m present. But they still perceive me as busy. So how we feel vs. how others experience us—those are two different things.

Exactly. That’s what I call “the weather you bring.” Are you a storm cloud? Or are you a little sunshine? And it’s a choice.

You can prep your energy the same way you prep for a meeting.

That’s great. And when you realize that your presence is a present—like you said—it really reframes things. I want to talk about the idea that it starts with you. But how do you extend that into your team, especially if they’re not naturally aware of how they’re showing up? How do you help them become more conscious of their ripple effect?

I love this question. I use values as a tool. I give teams a list of values and ask them to pick their top ones. Then I ask them, Where did that come from?

I tell a story of Shane and Andrew—two very different employees. Shane, the jokester, picked “humor” as his value. I asked him why, and he said, “You know when you have a crappy childhood? You make jokes.”

It stunned the room. But it also explained everything about Shane to Andrew, who had always rolled his eyes at him. Suddenly, Andrew understood that Shane wasn’t just being a clown—he was coping.

So when you understand what someone values—and why—it becomes easier to work with them, hold them accountable, and build bridges.

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Seek First to Understand

That reminds me of what Stephen R. Covey said in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” You can’t influence someone you don’t understand. And once you understand them, you don’t have to try to influence them—it comes naturally.

Exactly. When you hear someone say, “They’re not loyal” or “They don’t trust me,” they’re talking about values.

We bring our values to every conversation—especially when we’re mad. So let’s talk about those values before the conflict.

Right. And in your work, I imagine you encounter teams dealing with negativity, bad communication, or toxic environments. What’s your first step to turning that around?

I tell leaders to zoom out. Assume your own presence is good, and start by looking at three things in your culture: attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs.

Ask:

• How are we doing?
  
  
• What’s “normal” around here?
  
  
• What do we really believe?
  
  

Sometimes I’ll ask leaders, “If your team were standing behind me, what would I see?” They’ll say things like stressed, burned out, or complacent.

Then I say, “What’s normal here?” Maybe it’s walking out of meetings and saying, “That could’ve been an email,” or replying-all to everything.

One of my favorite examples was when a new employee came to me and asked, “Do we take lunch here?” She had tried to go for a walk, and someone said, “We work until the work is done.”

That’s a cultural norm, not a policy. So I coached her to say, “I’ll work until the work is done—after my walk.” A few weeks later, that same person joined her because their physical therapist told them to walk more!

So norms can change, but only if we zoom out, identify them, and talk about them.

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What’s “Normal” Isn’t Always Good

That’s an incredible example. And it makes you realize that sometimes it’s not the company or the job—it’s a local team culture or manager behavior. When you acknowledge the norm before addressing it, it becomes easier to shift.

Exactly. And sometimes, we have to call out that norm.

Like in healthcare, we love on our patients—but we’re awful to each other.

I once asked my team: “Are we too busy to be friendly?” And 8 out of 20 said yes.

That’s a red flag. I started chipping away at it with little changes. I would walk up to people and say, “Crappy to happy—what are we doing today?”

It became a fun way to acknowledge that not everything is glamorous. And slowly, we built a culture of checking in, being human, and allowing joy.

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Tracking Joy Like a KPI

That leads perfectly into something we talked about earlier—joy. I think people don’t slow down enough to ask, “Am I happy? Am I fulfilled?” They measure KPIs at work, but never their own joy.

Exactly. And that’s how our “joy calendar” started.

One night, my husband and I were sitting on the couch, and I said, “We measure everything—kids, laundry, work, furnace filters—but not our joy. Let’s change that.”

We hung a whiteboard in our bedroom and wrote down things that brought us joy. He said, “People don’t put whiteboards in the bedroom.” But I wanted to dream about joy.

So we started scheduling joy. We’d check the list every night and morning. Once a month, we’d sit down with a drink and ask, “Do we have enough joy?”

That habit has lasted 8 or 9 years. And then we brought it to work too.

You created a joy calendar at work? That’s brilliant. And it doesn’t even have to take up much time.

Exactly. Just 10–15-minute chunks. Something that creates connection or laughter.

Joy isn’t an “extra”—it’s part of how we thrive.

One of my favorite workplace challenges is “Crappy to Happy.” I’d ask team members to acknowledge the unglamorous stuff—laundry, spreadsheets, phone calls—and then pair it with something joyful.

I love that. And it’s about intention. It’s also cultural, right? How do you measure that?

In our house, we actually do treat joy like a metric.

At first, we aimed for three joy items from the board each month. Now, we color-code them in our calendar so we can see the joy.

It’s not about tracking to the minute—it’s about tracking the feeling.

And if something doesn’t go well—like when our kids misbehaved at the movies—we pivot. That night didn’t count as joy. But when they were laughing in the grass afterward? That counted.

We always say, “Don’t miss the joy just because the plan changed.”

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Creating Fulfillment, Not Just Productivity

That’s gold. Most of us focus on productivity and ignore fulfillment. But like you said, when you’re intentional about joy, when you actually measure it, you start to create more of it. What you focus on grows.

Exactly. Just like we have key performance indicators for our business, we should have key fulfillment indicators for our lives.

When you’re intentional about how you show up, how your team shows up, and how joy plays into your day—you create a culture worth showing up for.

There’s so much value here—for business, for family, for life. If someone’s listening to this right now and wondering how to keep this going in their day-to-day, what’s your advice?

I’ll leave you with this: I was recently at a jersey retirement ceremony for Caitlin Clark, the incredible Iowa basketball player. The announcer said, “There will never be another #22.”

It hit me—we all have a “jersey retirement day.” It might be the end of your career, or the end of your life. One day, the lights turn off and you walk out for the last time.

And I thought: there will never be another you. So what are you doing between now and then? What are you creating? What are you impacting?

That’s profound. It’s like a modern take on the Stoic philosophy of contemplating your legacy. Bringing that vision back into the present changes how you act today.

Exactly. The time to create your ripple effect is now. So go happen to the world.

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Resources & Contact Info

Thank you for being here, Lisa. This has been one of my favorite conversations. For our listeners, what’s the best way for them to connect with you and learn more about your work?

You can visit www.lisaeven.com. I’m also on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook—just search Lisa Even.

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Final Thoughts

To everyone listening, remember this: It’s never too late to create the life you were meant to live. Whether it’s leading your team, building your business, or improving your personal life, it starts with your ripple effect. Be intentional. Be joyful. And start now.

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About Lisa Even:

Lisa's journey from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship is fueled by her belief that small, intentional actions can create a "Good Ripple Effect"—a concept she champions in her speaking engagements and coaching sessions. Her mission is to help leaders and teams realize that they can shape their world, rather than be shaped by it.

She is the author of Joy is My Job and the host of the podcast Have Good Ripple Effect, both of which encapsulate her philosophy of infusing joy into daily work life. Lisa's approach combines storytelling with practical tools, enabling audiences to implement changes that enhance team dynamics and personal fulfillment.

Guest Resources:

Website: lisaeven.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisaeven

Podcast: Have Good Ripple Effect

Book: Joy is My Job

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About George Wright III:

George Wright is a Proven, Successful Entrepreneur- and he knows how to inspire entrepreneurs, companies, and individuals to achieve Massive Results. With more than 20 years of Executive Management experience and 25 years of Direct Marketing and Sales experience, George is responsible for starting and building several successful multimillion-dollar companies. He started at a very young age to network and build his experience and knowledge of what it takes to become a driven and well-known entrepreneur. George built a multi-million-dollar seminar business, promoting some of the biggest stars and brands in the world. He has accelerated the success and cash flow in each of his ventures through his network of resources and results driven strategies. George is now dedicated to teaching and sharing his Prosperity Principles and Strategies to every Driven and Passionate Entrepreneur he meets. His mission is to Empower Entrepreneurs Globally to create Massive Change and LIVE their Ultimate Destiny.

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