about

If Lisa Maaca was a wine, she would hail as a 1971 Chateau d’Yquem from Sauternes, France, currently valued in the $3,000 - 4,000 range, accurately  and exquisitely described as “lush and balanced.”  

 

Clearly, she’s improved with age.  She would most happily be paired with outdoor seating, brilliant sunshine, and a trusted friend for a lengthy afternoon intellectual discussion about anything, really.  

 

Lisa’s abilities, curiosities and interests know few bounds.

 

Lisa Maaca fostered lifetime leadership and consummate communication skills as the oldest of eight children, earnestly and honestly earning the nickname, “Bossy.” Her evolution continued gloriously, graduating high school as valedictorian and recipient of a plethora of scholarly accolades and invites to study for free.  

 

But the Universe provided an altogether alternate path, as she unexpectedly, and unobtrusively entered the extraordinary role of domestic engineer.  And with this universal twist, a healthy, humanitarian dose of humility.  Halle-freakin-lujah.

 

Harvard would have to wait. 

 

By the age of twenty-seven, Lisa spent life devoted to her progeny-ous posse of five. Lisa acknowledges that the “The School of Hard Knocked Up”  taught her the most important life lessons one can ever learn:  loving, laughing, living out loud and letting go.  

 

Whilst family kept her grounded (and efficient), Lisa liberally leaned into educational, entrepreneurial and humanitarian passions.  She obtained theological credentials in 2008 (known for a time as “Reverend Mother”), founded Sweet Abandon Inc. in 2010 to sponsor Ukrainian orphans and supported multiple business endeavors.  In 2016, Rotary International awarded the “Service-Above-Self Award” for her international endeavors. 

 

Lisa graduated summa cum laude from Hiram College in 2014 with a BA in Business Management, and in 2016, with a Masters of Science in Social Administration (MSSA/MSW).  She has led social science research and practice in attachment theory, adoption, and child welfare in Ohio and California.  She continues scholarly pursuits at the renowned Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. 

 

Though talking comes naturally, it took Lisa a minute (okay...decades), a few beleaguered, broken relationships, and a "suck-it-up-you-got-a-scholarship" social work degree to learn the most important communication skill of all:  listening. 

 

Lisa finds restoration in Southern California's monumental self-care offerings like the ocean’s waves, mountains’ hikes, winsome wines and creative conversations.  

This multi-talented woman finds magic in making meaningful relationships and repairing broken ones.  And, in wine…Varietals, Viticulture, Vintage…like the people around us, full of diversity, history, and STORIES.  She loves nothing more than eliciting and listening to a juicy (or otherwise) story.  Intuitively, she adheres to Robin Moore’s belief, “Inside each of us is a natural-born storyteller waiting to be released.”  

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