COMING SOON: Episode 6 - Lean Into the We: On Connection, Creativity & Collective Intelligence with Lisa Gates and Jay Moon Fields
Today’s episode explores what it means to belong—to ourselves, to one another, and to something larger.
My guests today are longtime friends, collaborators, and creative powerhouses Lisa Gates and Jay Moon Fields.
What begins with laughter over coffee mugs and shared birthdays unfolds into a layered conversation about what it means to belong. We explore the tension between separateness and togetherness, and how both are necessary parts of being human. Through stories of art, ritual, and memory, we reflect on how we hold space for each other even when we drift apart, and how the work of coming home to ourselves is deeply connected to community.
From Lisa’s insights on negotiation and story to Jay’s reflections on embodiment and presence, this conversation invites listeners to notice the threads that connect us, to soften into shared experience, and to lean into the collective “we” that holds us all.
What we talk about
How Lisa and Jay first met (and why their memories don’t quite match)
The lessons of Into the Woods and Greater Mysteries
The dance between separateness and togetherness
What it means to be “behind your own eyes”
How art and ritual bring us back to community
The evolution of creative and professional roles
Why belonging shapes the work we do
The wisdom of separating “the problem” from “the person”
Remembering the collective intelligence that connects us all
Mentioned in the episode
Tagliaferro Ceramics (Lisa loves their mugs!)
Into the Woods by Steven Sondheim
Greater Mysteries, an immersive music project created by composer and artist Kelli Scarr
About Lisa
Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn.
Lisa Gates
Lisa Gates is a writer, storyteller and coach, and top LinkedIn Learning instructor to millions of learners worldwide. She believes that constructive communication is a superpower and teaches how to turn conflict into collaboration, how to navigate crucial negotiations, and other practical strategies for communicating with people whose beliefs don’t match ours exactly. Before spending two decades as a certified leadership coach Lisa worked in journalism and public relations. Her unique professional background, combined with her experiences as an actor and writer, give her a unique edge in helping leaders communicate with clarity, confidence, and impact.
About Jay
Listen to Jay’s Hey, Wait podcast and connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Jay Moon Fields
Jay Moon Fields spent a good chunk of her life trying to be who other people needed her to be—and then made a career out of helping others stop doing that. She’s a somatic coach, author and host of the Hey, Wait podcast, where she helps folks build real, healthy relationships with themselves, each other, and the forces shaping everyday life. Nearly a million people have taken her LinkedIn Learning courses, and her book Teaching People, Not Poses is required reading in yoga teacher trainings worldwide. Her latest book, Less Lost just published earlier this year. Jay has the degrees (Psychosocial Health and Human Movement from William & Mary; Integral Transformative Education from Prescott College) to back up her obsession with how humans work—and how to quit working against ourselves. She lives in California with her husband and the cat who decided they were hers.
Jay dedicates her Give a Damn shout-out to the Women's Foundation California.
