We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lisa DePass. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lisa below.

Lisa, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

For me, this business did not come from one dramatic moment where everything suddenly became clear. It was more of a gradual unfolding over many years. I have always had a desire to build community around me. I care deeply about people, connection, and creating spaces where others can feel seen, valued, and encouraged. That desire has been in me for a long time.

A major part of that journey began in 2008, when I pursued an MBA through the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business in a specialized leadership-focused program at CIMBA in Veneto, Italy. That experience was deeply formative for me. It forced me to take a good, long, honest look at who I was, who I wanted to be, and where I wanted to go. The tools and insights I gained there stayed with me, and over the next decade I found myself returning to them again and again as I navigated different transitions, challenges, and changes in life. Long before I officially started a business, the seed had already been planted. I had wanted to be a life coach ever since graduating from that MBA program, but life brought curveballs that required me to prioritize stability over stepping out on my own.

Then came the years surrounding Covid, and that was when everything started to sharpen. Like many people, I felt the weight of that season deeply. I watched my own career get challenged, and I watched people in my personal circles struggle under the strain of isolation, uncertainty, misinformation, political tension, and growing distrust. What saddened me most was not just that people were hurting, but that many seemed to lose the ability to communicate with one another in healthy, respectful ways. I saw people attacking each other in the name of being right. I saw division creep into families, friendships, and communities. Even within my own extended family, there were tensions that reflected the larger fractures happening all around us. As someone who has always cared about community, I found that heartbreaking.

What became clear to me was that community problems are often rooted in self-awareness problems. People cannot build healthy connection externally if they have not done the internal work of understanding themselves, their values, their triggers, their limitations, and how they impact the world around them. That realization was a big part of the logic behind Empower You Coaching and Consulting. I had seen firsthand, in my own life, how powerful self-reflection and leadership tools could be in helping a person navigate change, find clarity, and live more intentionally. I knew these kinds of tools were not just theoretical. I had used them. They had helped me carve out a place for myself through many changes over the years. So when I looked around and saw how many people were overwhelmed, reactive, disconnected, or stuck, I believed there was real value in creating a pathway that helped people stop, reflect, and engage the world in a healthier way.

By 2023, I was in a place where it truly felt like now or never. I felt that if I kept postponing this path, I would be betraying the talents, insights, and skills I had developed along the way. Waiting any longer felt like a disservice to myself and a denial of what had been in my heart for years. By 2024, I was determined to become a certified coach and finally make the leap.

Around that same period, Ink n Essence Design Co. was also taking shape, though it began from a slightly different angle. Initially, I was looking for a side hustle and had already started making handmade cards for people around me. But even that came from something personal. Gift giving is actually my last love language, so creating cards became my own way of expressing care and appreciation. I found myself pouring time, thought, and vulnerability into something I could give to someone I loved. In the process, I discovered a creative outlet I did not even realize I had been looking for. When others began responding so positively to the cards, it naturally grew into a business. Over time, that expanded into card-making experiences where people can gather, create, and reflect together. In that sense, Ink n Essence became more than a product business. It became another expression of the same heart behind Empower You.

That is really the connection between both businesses. Empower You prepares people internally to face the world externally. Ink n Essence gives people a tangible tool to practice care, appreciation, and connection. One focuses on the inner work of self-mastery, reflection, and healthier ways of relating. The other offers a creative, relational outlet that helps people express what often goes unsaid. Both are rooted in the belief that people need more meaning, more intentionality, and more humanity in how they live and connect.

I would not say I was trying to solve a problem that no one else was addressing. There are many coaches, many creatives, and many people building businesses around personal growth or handmade products. But I did not believe I needed to invent a completely new category in order to build something worthwhile. What excited me was the opportunity to offer something honest, needed, and deeply aligned with who I am. I also believed there was room for something more meaningful. At the time, I was looking at what many people were doing on YouTube and Instagram, and while some of it was successful, much of it felt empty to me. It lacked depth, substance, and genuine transformation. That made me feel even more strongly that there was space for work that helped people engage life in a more thoughtful, grounded, and meaningful way.

What excites me most, even now, is the possibility of helping people live from a place of healthy personal and community meaning. I love people, and I want to see them succeed, not just in a surface-level way, but in a way that is rooted in self-awareness, purpose, and healthier connection with others. That is the picture behind both businesses. They are different expressions of the same mission: helping people reconnect with themselves and with each other in ways that are honest, life-giving, and meaningful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

For those who may not know me, I am a coach, community-minded entrepreneur, and creative who helps people understand themselves, strengthen relationships, and live more intentionally. I care deeply that people feel seen and heard, but even more than that, I want them to leave interactions with a stronger sense of purpose and clarity about what they carry. I am also grateful to build this work alongside my business partner, Bret Chapman, who shares many of the same values around authenticity, growth, and healthy community.

My path into this work grew out of both personal formation and lived experience. During my MBA, I was challenged to look more honestly at who I was, how I was wired, and how I wanted to move through the world. Over time, I realized I was naturally drawn to work that helped others do the same. I have often found myself in everyday conversations that became meaningful simply because someone needed a moment to feel understood. Coaching gave me a way to serve people in that space with intention.

Through Empower You Coaching and Consulting, we offer one-on-one coaching, group sessions, self-discovery assessments, and workshops focused on relational development. We help people understand their wiring, identify limiting beliefs, and recognize how both shape the way they show up in relationships, work, and community. Many people think they know themselves well until stress, conflict, or uncertainty reveal patterns they have not fully understood. Our work helps people move from reaction to intention so they can engage others with greater awareness and purpose.

I also lead Ink n Essence Design Co., a handmade greeting card business with an experiential component. I create meaningful, quality cards for a variety of occasions, including custom designs, and I host card-making experiences that bring people together around themes of care, appreciation, and community.

What ties both businesses together is my belief that self-awareness is not just about personal insight, but relational responsibility. Empower You prepares people internally to face the world externally, while Ink n Essence gives them a tangible way to express care and connection. What I am most proud of is that both businesses create meaning and healthy connection. At the heart of my work is the belief that people carry thoughts, insights, and expressions that others need to hear, because what they hold has value.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve made many pivots in life. One of the biggest was moving from a more conventional, stability-driven path into entrepreneurship that was more deeply aligned with who I am and what I felt called to build.

My journey was not a straight line. I had experiences in education, leadership, and business that shaped me over time. My MBA experience deepened my interest in coaching and personal development, but life brought enough curveballs that I did not feel ready to immediately take the risk of building something on my own. For a long time, practicality and stability had to take priority. I had my family to think about.

What I came to realize, though, was that delay and denial are not the same thing. Even while I was choosing stability, I was still growing. I was learning more about people, relationships, leadership, resilience, and the kind of work that gave me energy and meaning. I prepared for this moment as much as I could while being tied to a conventional 9-to-5 role. Over time, it became harder to ignore that a more purpose-driven path had been quietly taking shape in me for years.

By 2023 and into 2024, life forced the pivot into clearer focus. My job had become significantly less stable, I was feeling burnt out after working very hard for the two years leading up to that season, and a new role I had started ultimately fell through. At that point, I was faced with a real decision: start the job hunt again or finally take the plunge and pursue what had long been in my heart. That was when I knew I could not keep postponing the move into coaching and building the businesses I felt called to create. Continuing to wait would have been a disservice to myself and to the talents, insights, and experiences I had developed along the way.

That pivot led me to build Empower You Coaching and Consulting more intentionally, while continuing to grow Ink n Essence Design Co. In many ways, both businesses reflect what that pivot taught me: that meaningful work often grows out of the places where your lived experience, your values, and the needs you see around you all meet. Looking back, I am grateful the journey did not unfold in a straight line, because the pivot itself became part of the foundation for the work I now do with others.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson I had to unlearn was measuring my life against other people’s timelines, and with that, redefining what success really meant for me.

For a long time, I felt like I was trying to keep up. After living abroad and returning home, I looked around and saw friends buying homes, having children, and moving up in their careers. From the outside, it seemed like everyone else was on time and I was behind. I felt frustrated that the education and experiences I had worked hard for were not translating into the opportunities I expected, at least not in the conventional way I had imagined.

Looking back, that belief was incomplete. I had been given opportunities many people never get, but because my path was unconventional, I struggled to see their value through the lens I was using. My idea of success was someone else’s dream.

Around 2019, I started to realize that even after reaching some of the checkpoints I had aimed for, I was not as fulfilled as I thought I would be. That forced me to re-evaluate the internal messaging I had been living by. I began redefining success around the things that mattered most to me: meaningful impact, personal growth, quality time with the people I care about, and building a life that aligned with my values instead of just looking impressive from the outside.

That shift changed the way I make decisions. I am sharper, more grounded, and genuinely happier. I have not reached every goal yet, but now success feels less like chasing someone else’s horizon and more like standing in a garden where each life brings its own beauty, and learning how to grow well in the place I have been given.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.empoweryoucoaching.ca/ and https://inknessence.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweryoucc and https://www.instagram.com/inknessencedesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empoweryoucc and https://www.facebook.com/inknessencedesign
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/company/empower-you-coaching-and-consulting
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FishOutOfWaterPod