Lisa Hurley is a writer, speaker, and Anthem award-winning activist. She is the author of Space to Exhale (Wiley, 2025), and the Founder of The Great Exhale, a soft virtual space where Black women can relax, heal, and thrive. Her work centers Black women, and operates at the nexus of self care, community care, joy, and rest.

 

A respected voice on social media, Lisa 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 a Top 10 LinkedIn Creator in Inclusion and Diversity worldwide. She is also a Reiki master, and is known for her inspiring affirmations on TikTok.

 

With a passion for speaking out that belies her natural introversion, Lisa is a prolific podcaster. She is a Co-Founder & Co-Host of The Introvert Sisters podcast, and a former Co-Host of The Tea on Tap podcast, a hair & beauty show for women with curly, kinky, and coily tresses. Lisa was also one of the Hosts of Real Talk on Racism, a public affairs TV show that amplified the issues and voices of people of color. Lisa is also an Anthem Awards judge, an Advisory Board Member of YuVoice, and a member of Forbes BLK.

 

As a result of her activism, Lisa has been featured and quoted in Forbes, Essence, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Adweek, and Sweet July. She has also appeared on the Nasdaq screen in Times Square as a part of Nasdaq’s Amplifying Black Voices multimedia campaign, photographed by Polly Irungu. 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.

 

In her free time, Lisa enjoys hanging out with her adopted Jack Russell Terrier, reading a good book, and expressing her creativity through fashion. Of Caribbean heritage – Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad – Lisa is a world traveler with an understandable preference for warmer climes. Her love languages are sunshine, shoes, and laughter.