Speaking

Photo of Lisa onstage speaking to a crowd

I speak to audiences who have been shaped by a culture that rewarded their compliance.

Some people come to a conference looking for inspiration. Some good ideas, a reason to keep going, maybe a good cry. But they don’t always expect to be changed forever.

Lisa Riché Cooper speaks to people who have been shaped by a culture that rewarded their compliance . Women who learned early to make themselves small, families watching their faith quietly erode, anyone who has ever suspected that the life they're living falls short of the life they were made for.

She has shared her story on national platforms, but her mission is the room right in front of her. Through her talks and retreats, she has witnessed transformation in high school girls who didn't know they were allowed to take up space, in college students carrying wounds they couldn't yet name, and in adults who thought it was too late to rebuild.

Lisa doesn't deliver spiritual pep talks. She brings honesty, humor, and the kind of hard-won joy that only comes from someone who has actually lived the material, and her audiences tend to find themselves returning to something she said months, even years, later. What happens in her talks has a way of continuing long after everyone goes home.

If you are looking for a speaker whose message lingers long after the event ends, let's talk.

Contact Lisa

Talks & Retreats

  • FOR TEENS/COLLEGE STUDENTS/ADULTS

    How many times have you whispered, Lord, I will do anything — just show me what you want? Lisa Riche Cooper's signature talk invites audiences into a deeper, more honest conversation about what it actually looks like to surrender a whole life to God. Audiences learn to offer God the small, daily choices to stop escaping, stop shrinking, and stop letting fear write their story.

    Drawing on the example of Our Lady's fiat and the quiet courage of her Immaculate Heart, Lisa walks audiences through the fears and self-protective habits that keep lives smaller than they were made to be. With poignant honesty and genuine humor, she makes the case that the surrendered life, as costly and counterintuitive as it sounds, is the only path to the deep joy and meaning every human heart is searching for.

    • Learn what it really means to say yes to God and why we keep hedging

    • Recognize how small surrenders build a life around God’s plan more than grand gestures

    • See how fear keeps our expectations small and our lives in resistance to God’s plan

    • Understand surrender is not loss. It is the beginning of everything.

  • FOR TEENS/COLLEGE STUDENTS/ADULTS

    Often our deepest wounds come from people we trusted. To protect ourselves from the lingering pain, we contort our lives, creating cages that were never meant for us. In this deeply powerful talk, Lisa brings warmth, hard-won wisdom, and a refreshing lack of easy answers to one of the most misunderstood topics in the Christian life: forgiveness.

    This talk tenderly dismantles the myths that make forgiveness feel impossible. Audiences learn that true forgiveness does not have to include pretending nothing happened, excusing someone's behavior, or welcoming destructive people back into our lives. Through the lens of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Lisa walks audiences toward a forgiveness that is honest, that protects them, and that ultimately sets them free. 

    • Feel safe in forgiveness by learning the truth of what it is—and what it is not

    • Understand someone's brokenness doesn't excuse their behavior

    • Discover how the Sacred Heart of Jesus meets us in our most painful places

    • Recognize the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation and why it matters

  • FOR TEENS/COLLEGE STUDENTS/ADULTS

    Many of us learned early how to make ourselves agreeable, invisible, and easy to be around. Lisa’s talk on the Good Girl Myth is for every person who has ever wondered why they are exhausted by their own niceness. Audiences take a closer look at the vast differences between being genuinely humble and simply disappearing to keep everyone else comfortable.

    With humor, self-recognition, and deep respect for her audience, Lisa helps attendees see the difference between the smallness that comes from fear and the quiet strength that comes from knowing who they are in Christ’s loving heart. This talk doesn't ask anyone to become harder or louder. It asks them to live in unflinching truth, recovering the person God actually made them to be, with all their gentleness intact.

    • Learn difference between true humility and people-pleasing dressed up as virtue

    • Recognize the ways we make ourselves small and why we do it

    • Discover how to accurately identify old wounds and recognize how they may still be showing up

    • Recognize the power you have had all along and what it looks like when you start using it

  • FOR TEENS/COLLEGE STUDENTS/ADULTS

    Catholic parents are watching their teen and adult children drift toward churches that feel alive, emotionally electric, and easy. And they don't always have the language to name what's missing or what's wrong with that exodus from the Church. Lisa grew up inside the prosperity gospel movement, and that lived experience gives this talk something no amount of research alone can provide. She knows this world from the inside, and she knows the real human cost of it.

    This talk traces the Word of Faith movement's occultic roots, examines how its theology strips God of his sovereignty, and takes an honest look at what happens when spiritual leaders demand total loyalty and total financial sacrifice from their congregants. Lisa brings her trademark honesty and warmth to a topic that can feel overwhelming, leaving audiences better equipped to recognize the surprising dangers of this “feel good” movement.  Additionally, Catholics learn how their faith remains deeply rooted in an authentic encounter with the living God.

    • Discover surprising origins of the Word of Faith movement and its occultic influences

    • Recognize how prosperity theology reframes God and why that matters

    • Identify the markers of cultic church structures and how they operate

    • Learn why this movement is growing, who it is reaching, and how to recognize its influence

  • FOR ANYONE FACING UNEXPECTED SUFFERING

    Nobody signs up for suffering. But Lisa would tell you that the years she spent walking through cancer were among the most transformative of her life. You don't have to have had cancer to own this message. If you have ever faced suffering you did not choose, this one is for you.

    Lisa shares how cancer exposed the lies she had believed about herself, revealed a strength she never knew she had, and drew her closer to God and to others in ways nothing else could have. This is not a talk that romanticizes pain or wraps it in clichés. It is an invitation to believe that God wastes nothing, that suffering can be redemptive, and that deep, unshakeable joy is available even in the hardest seasons of life.

    • Discover how embracing our suffering can become the instrument of our freedom

    • Learn how suffering can expose and dismantle lies we believe about ourselves

    • Gain a deeper understanding of what redemptive suffering looks like in real life

    • Embrace the joy and hardship that often come in one package

  • RETREATS ARE TAILORED SPECIFICALLY TO THE AUDIENCE: HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS/COLLEGE STUDENTS/ADULT WOMEN

    Experience a retreat that is truly life changing for women of all ages. This one-day retreat uncovers the truth about the many influences that shape and distort women’s gifts and personalities. It invites them to discover the truth of who they are, to find healing for wounds—even ones they may have hidden from themselves, and to go forward with a perspective and new connection to God, empowered for the life they were created for.

  • “Lisa has shared her journey of healing with the women of FMC Shreveport. She is an amazing woman of faith! Her words are powerful and uplifting! You will be blessed!”

    — Kathy W.

  • “Lisa has shared her faith and her health journey with grace and humility. Her message of love and hope is an inspiration to all.”

    — Laurie K.

  • “Lisa shares her journey with a positive, inspiring, uplifting spirit. I am so impressed with her strength and courage as she continues her road to recovery. Lisa is a beautiful soul. You should attend any speaking event you can.”

    — Lynda R.

  • “Lisa is the best. Her words are always authentic and inspiring, and you feel blessed after having spent time in her presence.”

    — Lynne F.

  • “Hearing Lisa speak is life changing. Her words and her presence speak of hope and courage. She is a light in my life and in the world.”

    — Kathy O.

  • “Listening to Lisa speak is both inspiring and uplifting. Her deep faith, genuine heart, and knowledge of God’s word shine through every talk she gives. She has a special gift for connecting with people and encouraging them to grow closer to God.”

    — Susan M.