LISA OF MILLROAD STUDIO

Tell us a little bit about your back story. Where are you from?

Originally from the Bay Area, I went to college in Southern California and then had a 10-year-stint in the entertainment industry in LA. My career was taking off but I was unfilled and unhappy. So, I went on a ledge, left my career and friends and moved back to the Bay Area.

I gave myself the freedom to let my intuition lead me. That intuition leads me to this day.

When did you start your company and what inspired you to do so?

I laugh when I get asked that question because I always say that I didn’t start my company. It started me. It was the first time in my life that I didn’t over plan every last detail. I didn’t even have a business plan.

After an 18-month-long sickness derailed me, I focused solely on the things that fed my soul. Having come from a family of makers, it didn’t take long to notice what I liked to do. I like to create, collaborate and connect with natural materials. I like to make beautiful, soul-driven products, events and spaces. People started noticing my work, reaching out and then referring me to others. It sounds so cliche but its been all very organic with a lot of hustle.

Can you share about your process? What makes your product unique? What do you love most about it?

There’s never a dull moment doing both interior design and natural dyes. Sometimes I think I’m crazy for trying to do both while also raising two boys and being a wife.

But I know that my purpose in life is to inspire people to find the beauty that surrounds them.

Interior design allows me to create something new and beautiful and functional. Sometimes, though, it can tip me into a striving mentality or over-consumption. Creating natural dyes from plants and natural materials is the great equalizer. It reminds me that we have everything we need, and we must protect our provider, Mother Earth.

Working with natural dyes is an extension of my spiritual practice. I know that it might sound really woo-woo but my greatest lessons (and challenges) come from this art form. Mantras bubble up when I dye and, with each piece I’m dyeing, I focus on the mantra.

The mantra that bubbled up for these goodies is: I am you. You are me. We are one.

What do you value most about the community you have built at Millroad Studio?

The people I meet through my natural dyes, creative workshops and interior design services are the most rad women and men I could ever imagine. I think what I value most is that each person is coming fully and authentically as they are. There’s a vulnerability that I get to witness and its awe inspiring.

What does Women Supporting Women mean to you?

Women supporting women has always been important, and now it’s more important than ever. Our world is rapidly changing. We’re experiencing mass conflict, disease at our doorsteps and the fragility of our economies. We're navigating through the discord amongst countries, ethnic races and our own families. These are all signs that times are changing.

I believe we are growing.

We’ve let the masculine energies lead for far too long. It's the Divine Feminine Energy that lives within each one of us that will get us through these challenging times.

Women can’t afford to play small right now. We need to step into our power, our grace, our strength and our perseverance. We need to tap into our inherent intuition to lead ourselves, our companies, our husbands, our kids and our communities into this more balanced, loving, equitable world.

And we need to support each other through it all. Every step of the way.

Can you share one other female-founded business we should know about?

Gah! There are so many. Here are a few whose work is inspiring me right now. Ingrid Emaga for her photography and art direction. Tracie Hervy for her ceramics. Rainie Brazil & Charlotte Leopard for their hand forged jewelry. Sarah Bellos & her Stony Creek Colors for turning tobacco fields into indigo fields. And Cosa Buena’s Vera Claire for being the bridge of traditional artists through her work in Oaxaca.