Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Peers.
Hi Lisa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
LISA PEERS – Actor, director, coach and founder of Peers and Players – communication skills training
A successful actor in Australia for decades, starring in numerous films, tv shows and plays, as well as producing two Australian premiere productions, teaching and directing theatre and with a concurrent voice-over career, Lisa founded her global business, Peers and Players, in 1998. Now based in San Francisco, she works with top tech companies like Cisco and Splunk, Adyen, law firms, financial institutions and more…
She is also a mother of 2 accomplished and talented musicians (Jesse Redwing in Sydney and Rainee Blake in LA), and she started the business when they were young, as a way juggle her commitment to being present as a mother, while contributing financially to her young family. She was the child of actors herself, and grew up ‘backstage’, while her parents were forging their careers, first in the UK, and then as the daughter of a single working actress in Australia, after her parents divorced when she was 8.
As a Senior Leader for Tony Robbins, she has attended and/or supported numerous events since 2014, being adept in many of Tony’s coaching modalities. And she studied NLP (Neuro linguistic programming) while in India. Her approach combines her work as an actor, director, producer as well as her personal and professional experience in coaching and facilitation of communications skills programs globally.
Her global team of around 3oo actor-coaches provide experiential learning: focused on Courageous Conversations, Powerful Presentation Skills: empathy, ethics, storytelling and interactive peer support. They provide practical and lasting feedback and coaching which is tailored to acknowledge and improve people’s innate strengths and development needs.
Rehearsing challenging conversations and presentations, especially when they are high stakes, ensures skill development and confidence for real-life situations. Productive conversations translate to happy and productive teams, loyal people who are committed to working through tough situations and staying in their job! And coaching brings out a learner’s authentic voice and intended outcomes.
Their international reach means clients have consistent communication skills training across regions, with actor-coaches based in more than 28 cities worldwide, bringing cultural diversity and a consistent and powerful approach to learning.
Lisa is proud of the methodologies which she has developed during nearly three decades in business. Her deep knowledge and experience of all aspects of the actors craft, combined with being an entrepreneur in an ever-changing staff and leadership training market has contributed to a huge reach, improving thousands of people’s work life and happiness one-by-one, with meaningful rehearsal and practical coaching. Lisa loves working one-on-one with individuals to improve their personal skills, as well as with global firms who want to improve their global communication culture while retaining regional nuances.
Living in the heart of tech, in the Bay Area has meant access to some of the world’s top and fastest growing companies, and here lies an ever-growing need for human skills, the ability to understand and appreciate co-workers and teams more than ever. Lisa’s passion is for helping people to be happier and more fulfilled at work, in helping HR and staff trainers to bring their training modalities to life, and in helping companies have more robust and enduring work environments for their staff.
“Most staff training doesn’t bring lasting change to how people communicate, so they feel disengaged. Our proven drama-based training helps people be confident when tackling challenging presentations and conversations; to be happier and more motivated.” Lisa Peers
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
People often ask Lisa how she built her company, from a small team in Australia, to a global team which she manages from the USA. The truth is, it hasn’t always been smooth. With a history of conversations going wrong in her early career, as a young ingénue who’s career took off at a young age, through to moving to a new culture, after her divorce, from Australia to the USA, and to developing and keeping client relationships in a changing work environment, the road has had it’s turns.
Covid struck Peers and Players in a big way, with in -person staff training grinding to a halt with the pandemic restrictions, the whole industry of communication skills training had to reinvent itself. This was a rough transition and a quick learning curve…however taking staff training into the virtual world, once the technical tools were invented and developed, has had it’s advantages. People learn in a very focused and confidential environment on line, and the cost benefits to the companies became evident. The ability to bring people from multiple regions together, without the cot of travel has been a definite advantage.
And then, once the pandemic receded, big companies began to use more AI centred training, thinking that they could save even more by having people interact with avatars! Yes, there are advantages but training with a real coach, who understands the nuances of human communication, cant’s be beat…at least not yet!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a successful actress whose career took off at an early age, Lisa couldn’t believe that her career wasn’t going to last forever. But it did start to decline in her early thirties concurrent with her having two children. She had to act quickly to reinvent herself. Although she had produced two successful theatre productions in Australia, which she had seen and bought from the USA. Sam Shepherd’s Fool for Love and Casey Curti’’s Catholic School Girls, which developed into 2 national tours, she had some experience of producing and directing.
Starting a business was a whole new foray for her. Over the years, she developed a passion for role play as a tool for using her acting and performing skills to help people in business to communicate better. And when she realized that she needed a business in order to be able to stay home more with her children, she formed a small team in Australia and offered their services to do role play and coaching there.
Well, the business grew exponetially, with inquiries coming in for actors in Singapore or Hong Kong, India, and across the USA. And Lisa always said yes to these inquiries. And over the years, has built an amazing team of global actor Nationally, as well as honing her own methodologies and skills both in casting, training, and developing her actor coaches as well as in working with clients to understand exactly what they need for their staff training to make their people happier and better leaders and managers, and in turn to give back to make their companies a place where people want to stay. period.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
San Francisco is a wonderful city for diversity and as a gathering place for creative people. The weather is awesome, and living in North Beach especially is wonderful because you placed in between Little Italy, Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf. So the environment is beautiful. The weather is great, and the culture of San Francisco combines the up and coming tech industry with the wonderful history of the beat generation, the summer of love, and the inception of many aspects of spiritual and personal growth, which make a foundation for personal and professional advancement.
It’s still confronting to be in one of the richest cities in the USA, or event he world, and to witness every day the disenfranchised people, homeless and drug addicts, who make such a heart wrenching contrast to the glitter and growth of the tech boom.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.peersandplayers.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peersandplayers/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peersandplayers
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisapeers/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Peersandplayers
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/peers-and-players-san-francisco-2
