Welcome to Vitality!
Welcome to Vitality Collective!
The concept of a community centered around vitality has been marinating in my mind for many years. It wasn’t until a recent concussion (courtesy of an ill-advised combination of flip flops on some driveway ice – would not recommend) forced me into a dark room, with eyes closed and nothing to do but reflect on my priorities that I finally had the time and space to really dig in.
For my whole life, I have been obsessed with health and well-being in the broadest sense (vitality!) and the power that community plays in supporting it. I was a camp counselor (yes, I’m one of those kinds of people ;) and my first job out of college was at The Prevention Center (here in Boulder) where we developed peer-based programs for underserved communities (I was always drawn to the idea of how connections with others could promote health). I then spent time at Stanford and the University of Washington where I developed groundbreaking peer-based health interventions. In order to expand the reach of those, I turned to the internet and pioneered the use of web surveys and ultimately founded a company and developed a digital health platform, which revolutionized the healthcare industry (those sound like pretty bold statements don’t they… but SurveyMonkey didn’t even exist when I started!).
I share all of that so you know a little about me, my ambition to make a difference in the world, and my passion for bridging community and vitality. My ability to be successful in my career, and in my life, has everything to do with the community of people I surround myself with. Like many of you, COVID threw a wrench in my connectedness to communities, and I’m ready to revitalize those connections!
After selling my company and dipping my toe in the venture capital world and supporting other CEO and CTO founders, I was called to serve others and became an executive coach. I feel incredibly “on purpose.” I’m missing only one thing – a community. If you’re anything like me, you may be looking for the same thing - a group of peers to connect with and learn from on a regular basis, people to push you to keep doing what works, expand into new arenas, try new approaches, and co-create something bigger than any one of us could do on our own.
In the end, those who know me best will attest to this – I’m just Lizza. I’m more nerdy than funny. I judge my days based on the degree to which I genuinely help someone. I love connecting with others and hearing their stories. And lastly, and maybe this is TMI – my therapist spent many years trying to convince me to get in touch with my inner relaxed self and take up gardening. I love gardens, don’t get me wrong, but my true nature, as evidenced by my recent concussion and the fact that all I could think about during recovery was creating another company, is that I love to build and create and connect with others.
I hope you will consider joining this community of “vitality promoters” and help make it something that serves all of us both personally and professionally. In turn, that means all of the people we touch will be served as well.