SM Change Maker | September

Adalgisa Rivera AKA Lisa

Harlem Run Pacer | East Harlem Walks Leader/Coordinator

East Harlem Walk and El Barrio Bikes | Social Media Content Creator

ShapeUP NYC Instructor

CEO, LovelyLisa Knits

Tell us a bit about yourself.

AR: My name is Adalgisa Rivera, however most people know me as Lisa. I currently reside in New York City, the city of my birth. Growing up I came back and forth between living in New Jersey and New York, and when I was in the military, also lived in a few other states for some months. It's pretty hard to say which one I call home because I've been influenced by all of them into who I am today, but as someone who was born in Harlem Hospital, has lived there back and forth for different periods of my life. The Harlem community holds a special place in my heart. I tend to spend most of my time, not just volunteering but supporting the businesses and the communities in Harlem. 

I have many titles and have held and still hold many roles in my life. I'm a pacer with HarlemRun - it is a transformative movement of trendsetters and fitness people but it's really a running movement in Harlem. We do a lot more than pacing runs and we really support our community. I am also a bike leader and on the Executive Committee Board for El Barrio Bikes, which is a program specifically, through the Action Center, through DOHMH, and we offer free community bikes, programming and advocacy. It's really about educating individuals on the rules of the road, as well as biking and getting people comfortable in a city community environment to go out for rides. We expose them to much more than biking. Sometimes, we do themed rides where it could be centered around businesses and sometimes they're just about community spaces or events. Sometimes it's just really to get them on a bike and get people actively moving, enjoying something for themselves to help them feel better. 

I am also a sponsored athlete through Gu Energy Gel. There are some events and races that I participate in where they really support me not just through nutrition but exposing me to more. They are also very supportive of the many roles that I hold and support many of the events I am part of; whether it's a bike ride or a run. I am also a mentor through iMentor, I believe, it has been four years now, to this Intelligent young woman. She's just completed her first semester in college, is working part-time and I've shared an amazing journey with her growing together. 

I was part of the New York City Black and Latin X affinity group that iMentor created, and I was part of a lot of discussions and planning, but I took a step back due to COVID and my mother needing more of my support. I needed to really focus on supporting my mom after she had a heart attack and cardiac arrest. That's another role that I play - the role of a daughter. Now, supporting my mom as she transitions and navigates through her new day to day life. I’m working on providing her with support and putting certain things in place, all preventative measures moving forward. 

Self-care to me is so important and it is not just the surface care. Some of the things I do day to day that I love to uplift my spirit are taking baths with essential oils and bath bombs from Lush.  I also love lighting Candles. I'm not a big tea drinker, but when I find myself needing extra sleep, or having a hard time sleeping, processing emotions, or whatnot, I love drinking a warm cup of tea. Fresh tea is my preference during these times. You guys may not know this, but I grew up in a very traditional Dominican household. I am of Dominican descent. I identify as Afro Latina. Fresh tea - leaves from the garden - were something that was incorporated into our daily lives. Since I come from families that were farmers and herbalists, it was a big thing. Tea for me is not a habit to just do, but really, it’s about connecting with the environment, the community and our universe - using natural herbs as a way to help yourself and what is going on. There are different tea and herbs mixtures used depending on the purpose for drinking the tea.

Currently, I’m training for my first ultra and trail race- TransRockies Run. I’m a new trail runner, so this is a new environment and new field for me overall. It is helping me reconnect with the outdoors and has become so therapeutic. I love hiking and I enjoy being out in nature. I enjoy being around any body of water, I love the summer and the sun. There is so much healing by just being in nature and not hearing the sounds of the city and just listening to it and breathing in the air. 

My favorite color is yellow and I love sunflowers. Now, I also obviously love knitting. Knitting has also become very therapeutic for me during the pandemic and after. Knitting forced me to turn all the tabs off in my brain and focus on patterns and really focus on one thing at a time and just disconnect from everything else. It helped me focus on breathing and provided a sense of tranquility for me that I haven't experienced in a long time. 
Like many people, I love love love LOVE music. Music provides the feelings, the mood, the words that we can't say or share, or put out there sometimes. If music was a love language, it would definitely be my number one and of course FOOD as well 😊. I also love chocolate, preferably milk chocolate. I have such a sweet tooth.

What led you to running?

I started making little transitions in my life from what I'm eating, to going to the gym, to taking a gym class, to tracking my sleep, to creating routines and all this in turn helped me to feel better. Ultimately, my cousin told me a white lie and that got me into running, said it was a workout. I came thinking there was not going to be running involved and it was going to be a workout. It turns out there was a run. As soon as we left the building we had to run to the park and run around it. The park we ran around is called Marcus Garvey Park and the workout now I know was speedwork. However I felt so proud of myself and seen that I came back that following week.

The community is what kept me. The way that I was greeted and supported, and some of the humor used kept me there. So ultimately, what brought me into running was my cousin with her little white lie and I'm forever grateful for her, for doing that. Running continues to be a form of release. It's been a form to be connected to the community, to stay fit, to advocate, to have fun, to network and to support others. It's shown me this can be incorporated in your life, or if not running maybe some other level of physical activity can. Ultimately, my goal is to be healthy overall and not just physically but mentally and spiritually. We have a lot of diseases in our family and I want to show that you can live a healthier lifestyle and change that in our family’s line. You can make certain choices that impact your life for the better in the long run.

AR: My self-love journey, like life, has been on-going. Thinking back when I was in middle school, I had some comments from the teachers that helped certain traumas I was going through at those years. In high school, I had friends and there was the community. In my adolescent years I was part of the church youth group, the NYPD Explorers program and some of the mentors I had through these different programs and other things in the community were always there guiding, supporting and advising me. They really reinforced what I had learned about the importance of taking care of yourself and supporting others and the community without expectations.  I think that in the last several years, many people have played a role in my self-love journey , many of which I hold dear and near. Most of these people are individuals who have done the difficult work themselves, like my friends Gigi and Anika, and even my cousin/friend. They've done a lot of work, they're very self-aware, they're very knowledgeable, they're very supportive. So, it creates this environment of self-love, being your authentic self and just being able to address and discuss things openly and honestly. Along the journey of my 37 years, there have been many individuals that have played roles in my life to get me to where I am today. 

Additionally, If I'm on Instagram, I'll research different hashtags or different people. I love Vex King and a lot of his messages and his books are very inspirational and force me to think and process things. I also love Brené Brown and how she speaks about vulnerability, strength, courage and being real. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I also love Jay Shetty. I listened to his podcast On Purpose. In the podcasts, there's a lot of different guests, topics and focus. There's other podcasts and things I listen to like Black Girls Heal. As a runner, I also listen to Running for Real with Tina and a few other podcasts to keep me centered, motivated and aware. On music, I love everything and listen to so many different genres. However, depending on the reason to listen I have some playlists depending on what I need. I have playlists that are inspirational speeches, gratitude, positivity and love. I recall recently during a race, I told someone to not be offended because I could be playing anything from Gospel to WAP 😊. 

Back to the original question, who if anyone, inspired me to begin my self-love journey. Ultimately, just being myself. I made an ultimate choice to choose me, and to put me first, and I think that I've been doing that on and off through the years and it wasn't until COVID and everything that happened with my mother that I realized I was in such a dark place. All the feelings and everything that I had been going through, I didn't want to continue feeling like I was going backwards. So, in January 2021, right before my birthday, I literally chose me. I sat down and thought about things that I wanted to start working on. I finally started therapy and put my plans into action. I became stronger and stronger, physically, mentally and spiritually. I applied for therapy scholarships through the Loveland Foundations. I've got some of them and they helped me pay for therapy and get started. I engaged in Momentum education which further supported my thought process and the journey to focus on you and that focusing on you is important and not feeling guilt/shame around this. It also helped me start some of the shadow work and some of the deeper work that needed to be done for myself. I started shifting what I was putting into my body, what I was listening to, who I was around, what I was watching, who I was following on social media and so much more. I started learning more and understanding more about my relationship with food as well as how it impacts my body, my mobility, and my mindset. I started looking at my sleep patterns. Opening up to friends and loved ones. They just continued to pour into me and helping me grow.  With all of that, came more joy of me being able to define what love feels like for myself, and what joy looks like for me. I've added the community and giving to the community gives me joy. I started doing more bike rides and hiking and feeling myself differently in different ways and being able to give myself more grace. Going from one amazing therapist to another just so that I could do more of the deep work that I needed to do on the road to being a stronger Lisa, because that's ultimately the goal - for the road is for me to be a stronger Lisa on this lifelong journey. Giving myself grace, feel what I'm feeling and validate myself and just self-love. So the journey continues and it's been so many people. I can't point the finger at one particular person. Some people are here longer, some people come and go, but it's been a long journey and it's just going to continue. Healing is a lifelong journey.

SM: How do you deal with stress?

AR: Depends on the day ... Music is a constant, baths, podcasts, sleep, working out, knitting, spending time with people with amazing energy, vibes and honest genuine souls.

SM: What advice would you give around mental health awareness and the importance of checking in with yourself?

AR: Mental health is very important and plays a role into everything we do. If we do not take care of ourselves mentally it will impact us. I will say that it's easier to say things you shoulda coulda etc, after things have happened. I think we need to sink into discomfort, whatever it is, because it's trying to tell us something, it is trying to teach us something and I think we also need to understand it's normal and there's nothing wrong with us. We need to seek some support to process or understand what's going on and piece those pieces together so we can move forward. It's very important to check in with yourself and truly be honest with yourself and where you are and where you want to go/be. 

For me, my therapy sessions have become very important and things are scheduled around it. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t want anything to get in the way, so, I even shared this with my supervisor. We cannot schedule meetings right before or right after because I want to be able to be physically present in them and after, to sit with my process. For me, checking in can look different. It could be doodling, listening to a specific playlist, going on a run by myself, or going on a hike by myself. It can be checking in with some friends about where I am or how I'm feeling or just taking a day off and sleeping in, taking a bath and relaxing.

The best advice I can give you is to give yourself grace. Allow yourself grace for everything. Feel what you need to feel but ultimately make a choice. Choose yourself. Whatever that is, as hard as it is, choose yourself and then make a plan to continue to check in with yourself and be aware and acknowledge what it is you need for the next step and start working on you. You can't do or give the best version of you if you're not choosing you first, and you're not bettering yourself. Like Brené Brown said, “it's OK to talk about your feelings, it's OK to talk about where you are. These things are OK.”

AR: We do have an Instagram - LovelyLisaKnits_llc. This is where you can follow and support. You can share the page, share pictures of products you purchase and purchase products.

I wanted to knit for years. In the beginning, I didn't know there was a difference between knitting and crocheting. I remember growing up having an aunt who knitted and I wanted to learn. After I started learning more and more about knitting I learned that it was actually crocheting. During the lockdown I had so much time on my hands because so many things were shut down. So, I started Googling, researching, using YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook groups to teach myself how to knit. I started acquiring all these products at home, headbands, dish clothes, and potholders. One of my friends at the time tells me “why don't you just make it into a business?”.  Then a few more people DMed me and commented asking "hey are you selling that? How much is this? how much is that?" or "I want that one or how can I support?".  After seeing all these people checking in and asking questions, I decided to turn it into a business. It helped that I already had some inventory. That's how it all began. It really happened organically over the course of quarantine. I never thought about owning a business. It's been a journey and I'm learning a lot. It's not as easy as some people portray or say. There is a lot of work and a lot of behind the scenes stuff that takes place, and so many lessons learned. I sold my first piece in April 2020, it's officially been a year and a half since I sold a product, legally the business took off in November.  

November of this year will mark a year since I’ve made the business official. That’s how it came to be! :) You can also find me on Etsy at etsy.com/shoplovelylisaknitsllc! it came to be! :) You can also find me on Etsy at etsy.com/shoplovelylisaknitsllc!

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