This month we are spotlighting Brassrings, a leadership and organizational development consultancy dedicated to helping individuals and businesses find and seize their defining “brass ring.” Established by seasoned strategist and coach Lisa Sears, Brassrings marries decades of industry know-how with a heartfelt commitment to human-centered transformation offering tailored workshops, intensives, and coaching experiences. Brassrings brings clarity, capacity-building, and momentum to every engagement.
1. Tell us about your company and its mission.
What does Brassrings do, and what inspired the development of your talent acquisition platform? How has your journey evolved to support a wide range of industries, including those in the outdoor sector?
Brass Rings is a consulting and coaching practice I founded to help leaders and teams find clarity, alignment, and sustainable growth. I’m a connector—I love matching resources to the real needs of a business. I lead a group of consultants with expertise in operations, HR, strategic planning and practice management. In my own practice, I primarily support financial advisors in practice development and sales and executive coaching. What I’ve discovered, though, is that the tools and support our team brings to teams apply across all industries. I want to infuse myself more into my local community of Old Fort and the surrounding areas. I’ve enjoyed coming to OBA meetings and am excited to help facilitate an HR roundtable for this community.
My personal passion is delivering my Strategic Hustle program, a framework built around Desires, Vision, Rhythm, and Execution. It’s where I see the biggest breakthroughs happen, especially when I can shift the process out of the conference room and into nature. I get people out hiking and exploring and then back to the whiteboard to capture the clarity those hikes inspire. Many of my 1:1 sessions happen on my favorite trails and waterfalls, with the follow-up in my own home that I’ve designed for the kind of planning I do for myself. It’s lighter, more natural, and helps people see what’s possible when they create space for themselves.
This past year, after Hurricane Helene, I gave myself the gift of a reset—traveling to Aruba, sailing in the BVIs, exploring Costa Rica, living in the Adirondack for the summer and soon, heading to Peru. That personal exploration reminded me how much I thrive when I blend adventure with reflection. It also deepened my commitment to bringing that same reset to others. In 2026, I’ll be hosting a women’s retreat in Costa Rica where I’ll teach my annual reset through the Strategic Hustle program. It’s designed for women who, like me, crave both adventure and personal/professional growth—with the ease of planning already taken care of and enhanced by the infusion of nature.
For me, the heart of Brass Rings is about helping people zoom out—to step back far enough to really see their business, their patterns, and their opportunities. That perspective is the requirement for meaningful growth. And when you give yourself the space to reset, you return with more clarity and energy to pour into your work, your business, and your life.
2. What makes your platform stand out when it comes to supporting businesses in the outdoor industry?
Whether it’s high-volume seasonal hiring, compliance needs, or multi-location operations—how does BrassRings uniquely address the challenges faced by outdoor-focused businesses and organizations?
The outdoor industry feels like home to me—these are my kind of people. A mix of professionalism and realness, hard-working and passionate about what they do. I want to help businesses focus on and work through what truly matters. Many businesses wait until later in their growth to stabilize culture and management systems, when in reality those foundations are critical from the start. I enjoy creating safe spaces for candid discussions, whether in roundtables or consulting sessions. Our team has the ability to blend clarity, culture, and process in a way that feels approachable. Everyone looks good from the outside; I help leaders tackle what’s really happening inside, so they can scale without losing their values or their people.
I’ll be helping OBA members by bringing both resources and conversation to the table. Our team has specific HR tools and systems we can share, but more importantly, I want to listen and learn from the group. At the HR roundtable I will be facilitating on August 27th my goal is to gather data and open up dialogue around questions like: How are you hiring and keeping great people? What HR systems (if any) are you currently using? Where do you feel stuck or stretched? And what kind of support would actually help? From there, we can start identifying shared resources and building solutions together that strengthen not just individual businesses, but our whole community.
3. How has being part of the Outdoor Business Alliance influenced your approach or opened up new opportunities?
What have you learned from engaging with outdoor brands and organizations? Has the OBA community helped shape your understanding of hiring needs within the outdoor economy?
Although I have supported several outdoor industry businesses, I’m still getting to know the landscape and learning more about the businesses within it. I’ve really enjoyed the social side of the OBA—connecting with people and hearing about their challenges. Each conversation confirms for me that this is an industry I want to live in more fully and continue supporting here in my community.
OBA members have given me valuable insight into the hiring and workforce challenges that outdoor businesses face, and I’m continuing to learn more about how these fit within the local economy. I’m especially looking forward to the upcoming HR roundtable kickoff, where I’ll be able to take in even more data and perspectives to deepen that understanding.
4. Can you share a recent win, innovation, or project you’re especially proud of—particularly one that may benefit or resonate with outdoor-focused companies?
A recent highlight for me was co-facilitating the Open House at Indigo Nature Retreats with the LMNTL coaching team. We invited people from Old Fort as well as the broader Asheville community to come explore the grounds, learn about the local resources, and experience the power of gathering in community. It gave me the chance to lean into my gift for connecting—promoting both the property and the LMNTL team in a way that brought people together. The evening had such a genuine spirit of connection, and those who attended shared their own stories of community and belonging. More than anything, it felt like me—it felt like a moment of belonging, like this is finally my home.
5. What advice would you give to outdoor businesses looking to scale their teams or improve their hiring processes?
Don’t underestimate the importance of culture and clarity. Scaling isn’t just about adding people—it’s about aligning vision, defining rhythms, and setting up systems that support both the business and the humans inside it. My advice is to pause long enough to create that alignment first. Investing in culture early will save you countless challenges later.
