Founder, The Great Exhale™ | Award-Winning Activist | Entrepreneur & Speaker | Top 10 LinkedIn Creator in Inclusion & Diversity | Judge, The Anthem Awards | Forbes Featured | #ActuallyAutistic | INFJ | 🇧🇧🇯🇲🇹🇹🇺🇸

Lisa Hurley is a five-time Anthem Award-winning author, activist, podcaster, second-generation Reiki Master, and rest advocate. Her work centers Black women, and converges at the nexus of self care, community care, joy, and rest. Through her writing, speaking, and community-building, Lisa champions soft living for Black women. 

Hurley is the author of Space To Exhale, a transformational book created to help people beat burnout, embrace rest, and curate a soft life. Part memoir, part manifesto, part meditation guide, Space To Exhale is a self-help book that inspires readers to practice the pause and take time to exhale.

As a champion of rest for Black women, Lisa is the founder of The Great Exhale, a global virtual community dedicated to sisterhood, serenity, and soft living. TGE offers curated rituals, inspiring affirmations, and healing conversations for those ready to say no to hustle culture and yes to a life of ease. It is a healing hub where Black women can relax, lay their burdens down—and exhale.

An Executive Member IADAS, Lisa is also a board member of Yuvoice, and a Juror for the Anthem Awards. A respected figure, she has been honored as one of the Top 20 Entrepreneurs to follow on LinkedIn, voted as one of LinkedIn’s Top 50 Black Creators, and recognized as one of the Top 10 Anti-Discrimination Activists in the world. In addition, Lisa has been honored by Hush Loudly as an Introvert to Watch, and as one of pocstock's Future of Black America Top 50 Leaders. As a result of her activism, her thought leadership has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Adweek, and more. 

With a passion for speaking out that belies her natural introversion, Lisa is a prolific podcaster. In addition to being the Host and Executive producer of Space To Exhale: The Podcast, a five star-rated show that focuses on self care for Black women, she is also the Co-Founder & Co-Host of The Introvert Sisters Podcast, and a former Co-Host of The Tea on Tap podcast. 

With a strong belief in good vibes, Lisa is known for her inspiring affirmations on TikTok. In her free time, she enjoys bonding with her family, reading a good book, and expressing her creativity through fashion.

Of Caribbean heritage (Barbados, Trinidad, and Jamaica), Lisa is a world traveler with an understandable preference for warmer climes. Her love languages are sunshine, laughter, and naps.

Ready to exhale?
📚 Learn more, and order Space To Exhale: www.spacetoexhalebook.com
🎙️ Listen to Space To Exhale: The Podcast: bit.ly/STEPodcastOnSpotify
🔗 Stay connected: https://linktr.ee/lisahurley

Lisa Hurley

Broadsight

A woman-owned consultancy focused on elevating the agency and self-determination of organizations and the communities they serve.

Impact & Operations Executive

Brown Bones

Bassist & Vocalist

A Dub Supreme

Vocalist

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Seasoned higher education professional with experience working across academic departments supporting students, faculty, and administrators.
 
Areas of Expertise:
• Demonstrated ability to work with and advise students from various diverse backgrounds.
• Skillful in creating and maintaining documentation of policies and processes.
• Manage multiple short-term and long-term projects leveraging high levels of attention to detail.
• Proficient in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and virtual meeting platforms—Teams and Zoom.
• Experienced user in SIS, SUMMIT, PageUP, BuyWays, CONCUR, JobHawk, HRdirect/ePaf; ability to learn and optimize use of CRMs.
• Effective communicator with tact and professionalism; capable of managing emotions under pressure with diplomacy.

Department Assistant

Rebirth

https://youtube.com/channel/UCkJejE-OMvSSGgQq5zXvd5g

Bassist, Singer/Songwriter

https://music.apple.com/us/album/this-world-of-ours/991386865

Recording Artist

https://open.spotify.com/album/4pfXdAefMmHlqnjsBgD4Tq

PELHAM ACADEMY

"Pelham Academy" is a therapeutic residential school that provides comprehensive treatment and education to adolescent females with emotional and behavioral issues, mental health disorders, and complex trauma histories.  I facilitated and created group music therapy programs and met with residents 1:1 for Music Therapy Sessions and attended Music Therapy Supervision sessions with the Director of the Program.

Music Therapy Intern

Town of Lexington

Instructional Assistant

The Hearthstone Institute

“Learning for Life” (L4L), The Hearthstone, Lincoln & Woburn, MA
• Created a “Music” program with a focus towards therapeutic practices and
purposes in an early onset Dementia care day center.
• Created Powerpoint presentations on different instruments and music from
around the world explaining their uses, sounds and cultural and or traditional practices and purposes.

Hampshire College

Credit Card Audits and Purchase Order Creation

Purchasing Assistant

Accounts Payable

Project Coordinator of Community Partnerships for Social Change

I am a descendant of the Aniyunwiya, Chickahominy and Choctaw Nations, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY on Canarsie and Munsee Lenape Land.  As a singer, songwriter, and musician, I have been growing my creative expression over the past 40 years. I love to sing, vocalize harmonies and use music to self-soothe and to build connections, educate, and activate myself and listeners into whatever experience emerges and needs to happen.  

Music has literally been about health wealth my whole life. My creative process and advanced studies foster a people-focused, nurturing approach in to human interactions. In this and many ways, I’ve been inspired by my ancestors and my parents. My mother would sway in front of the speakers while I was in utero, blasting “Blue in Green” off of Kind of Blue by Miles Davis–hyper focused on the person she was growing inside. To this day, this music is my go-to soul soother, imprinted onto my DNA, it still repairs my genetic code. I have been using Music Therapy applications for self-reflection and communal connection most of my life without even knowing that’s what I was doing in an academic or professional sense

taplio

The Battle

Lisa Hurley

Cinamon Blair

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?