LISA CIFUENTES KNOWS HOW TO BUILD COMMUNITY.

I was lucky enough to get to sing at CreativeMornings a few times, and through that, I met Lisa Cifuentes, who is the Head of Community at CreativeMornings HQ in Brooklyn. It has been a total gift to get to know Lisa and see her in action. Lisa and the rest of the CreativeMornings team really practice what they preach, making each person who comes to the event feel welcome, included and empowered to go out and create something after these morning talks.

Illustration by Emily Ohlrich (Ink+Oil)
This interview has been edited and condensed.

What is your name and what do you do?
Lisa Cifuentes. It is my job to nurture and maintain the relationships that CreativeMornings has with all the Chapter Hosts all around the world.

What brought you to CreativeMornings? What made you decide to do it?
I actually ended up there by accident. I didn’t plan for it, but you know, they say that everything you do in life is preparing you for something, and you just don’t know it. Before this, I was managing a physical makers’ space in Bushwick called ThirdWard. I was a community manager there, and then unfortunately, it closed because it went bankrupt. It used to be an incredible space where they had a woodshop and a metal shop. You could take classes there, and they had a co-working space. I loved it. It was my first taste of doing community in real life and bringing people together.

On the side, I was working on a film with my sisters. We were about to launch a Kickstarter campaign, which we ended up funding, and then we produced the movie, a feature-length film called After the Wedding. This was all in  2012, so I was just kind of figuring out what my goals were. I had this film, and then I had this day job. Even before doing that job with [ThirdWard], [community-building was] actually what I liked the most about filmmaking. It was being on set and building a little community of people, and having a little family. That was what i enjoyed the most, but in the end, filmmaking just wasn’t for me. It’s too hard when you don’t have money. It ends up being fundraising more than anything else, and that’s not something I enjoy.

Meanwhile, I was attending CreativeMornings as an attendee, and they were looking for volunteers, so I volunteered for the first summit. Coincidentally like a month later, they were hiring someone to join the team as the community coordinator position, and it kind of all fell into place. I guess, long story short, it felt really natural, but it took me a long time. I was in the right place at the right time.

Where did you grow up and how does that influence you?
I grew up in Miami. I lived there from age 12-23. I went to college there. I went to Florida International University. I loved living there. Those were my formative years, and It influences my taste a lot and the aesthetics that I’m drawn to. I really like things that are tropical, things that are neon, etc. I remember when I first moved to New York, just living in Miami culturally, I would always greet people with a side-cheek kiss, and then when I was doing an internship here, I would do that when I would go up to people. It was such an awkward moment, realizing no one was into that. Here’s it’s all formal handshakes. Now, I would never, ever go up to someone and give them like a kiss on the cheek, but in Miami, that’s just what you do, even in a professional environment.

How did we meet?
We have a mutual friend, Matt Sucich, who is the producer and host of the CreativeMornings podcast. One day we asked him if he had any musician friends who would want to play an opening set at our events, and he recommended you. It was a glowing recommendation I remember. And then you performed in February 2017. That was a good event!

What is one hope and dream you have for the next year?
I’m really into saving money right now. Doing all the adult things I have been putting off.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Managing my own schedule and not feeling like I’m on someone else’s clock. Full freedom over the commitments I make.

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
Grandmother who passed away 13 years ago, she was so positive and progressive and open minded, but I was too young to understand it at the time.

What’s the wallpaper on your phone and/or computer?
My wife. She’s the most subtly ambitious person I know. She’s very modest and down to earth.

What is your greatest fear?
Losing the people that I love in some awfully dramatic way. I’m very anxious about that.

If you could fix one thing in the world, what would you fix?
Racism. All the isms!

What is your most treasured possession?
I’m not materialistic. I could lose all my things and be fine.

What is your favorite emoji?
Heart eyes

Lisa is the Head of Community at CreativeMornings HQ in Brooklyn. She’s in charge of bringing everyone together, from the venues who donate their space to the local businesses who sponsor the breakfast and coffee. Lisa is also the point person for other CM chapters in the 196 number of cities throughout the world all hosting these morning events meant to celebrate creatives.

Lisa hangs out here: Instagram, Creative Mornings.